I knew Tot Goodwin only by reputation when I wrote him in 1990 to ask if he would consider coming to help me with the new Green Creek Hounds, which I'd started two years earlier, in Tryon, N.C. He called to say that he was very interested in my request, but he wanted to spend a day with me and my Jt.-MFH, the late John H. Burgess. He wanted to look at our country and discuss our foxhunting philosophy and our plans for the future.

After visiting with us, he said he was comfortable with what he found, and that he would be back in a week. He returned to Georgia, where he picked up his horse, hounds and belongings to move to North Carolina. However, he arrived a week later than expected because he wanted to make sure that his elderly customers had plenty of firewood for the upcoming winter. It was then that I began to realize what an extraordinary human being was in store for us.

Before Tot took over as huntsman, my pack was very interesting. I had been working with a "bunch" of hounds consisting of culls drafted to me by other hunts who supported my efforts. I had also bred a litter and whelped 10 healthy puppies. The only way I could get this motley assortment to walk out like they should was to have meat snacks in my kennel coat pockets. Colleen Wilson, a dear friend who has helped me with the Green Creek from day 1, dubbed them the "pepperoni pack."

Tot brought with him a pack of Crossbreds and a bitch in whelp. I had staff horses, stabling and enough kennel space for both packs. So we put our resources together and started hunting. We hunted every single day for weeks, trying to get our packs to hunt together. Some days we hunted on foot, other days mounted. Some days it was just the two of us, other days we had help.

After much hard work, we finally got the hounds to hunt as a pack. We kept on working, doing whatever we needed to do to make it all come together. Once during these early days, a friend phoned my home while Tot and I were hunting and asked what I was doing. A member of the family replied: "Well, it's not thundering and lightning, so where do you think she is?"

Western North Carolina provides an abundance of game: red fox, gray fox, coyote and bobcat. Many of my hounds had come from Virginia and were only familiar with reds. Tot and I literally had to drag these hounds into the thick covert to hunt our grays. Only his Julys would attempt to hunt the bobcats. When we discovered that coyotes had migrated to this area, Tot had to teach part of the pack that it was OK to run them too.

Building a hunt from scratch and breeding hounds that will hunt as a pack in your country, after your desired quarries, is a monumental undertaking. We have had a lot of wonderful help and support throughout the entire history of Green Creek, but John and I could not have succeeded without Tot.

He came to our rescue with his unbelievable knowledge and vast experience. The hound pedigrees he has in his head will boggle the mind. I remember John Glass getting together with Tot at MFHA headquarters at Morven Park (Va.) and, between the MPHA computer and Tot's memory, they organized a lot of information.

We have a tremendous amount of hunting country, and one of the tasks that I enjoy is opening new country. I like visiting with the farmers and other landowners, and we have successfully obtained the right of passage. Tot has been a big help with landowners because of his gentle ways of dealing with people. We are both Southerners and were both raised in the country. We both feel at ease with the concerns of rural residents, and most of our landowners have been receptive to our requests.

I could write pages about Tot and his experiences here at Green Creek; but there is no way for me to relate in words the impact he has had on this community. The love and respect given him is boundless. Not only do people respect his talents as the consummate huntsman, they also love him for the wonderful human being that he is.

A few years ago, his popularity was clearly demonstrated by the many, many friends and acquaintances who attended his surprise 50th birthday celebration. So many people came that we were afraid we would have neither enough space nor enough food and drink for everyone.

Foxhunters from all over the country come to hunt with Tot and Green Creek. MFHs want our breeding-, and we have either sent or personally delivered our hounds to many parts of the country. Some have been drafted to hunts, and others have been sent to breed and returned to kennels.

Many MFHs have sent their huntsmen here to spend time with Tot. He is a willing, gracious and patient mentor. He wants the field to ride close behind him so they can see the hounds work and feel connected to the hunting. To enjoy Tot's skills first hand is quite a wonderful experience.

I found a wonderful friend when Tot came to Green Creek. For the first six months, he lived here on my farm. Then, when his house was ready, he moved to John Burgess' Fox Chase Farm. My children and grandchildren consider him part of our family, one of our own. When my children come home and they see Tot here on the farm, they'll go out and speak to him before they settle in to visit with me, His presence at family functions has always been in demand. He has become one of us, someone we expect to see every day, someone whom we know is here for us if we ever need him. None of us can imagine his not being in our lives.