William W. Headrick

[Fin2Feather]

Bill Headrick, writer, gun photographer extraordinaire, and Fox shotgun enthusiast passed away on Monday, October 14. I know many of you enjoyed Bill's tales and photos in DGJ and other places. He was a true character, and one who really had "been there, done that." He will be missed.

[loggy]

I wish I could have met both him and his father. Always enjoyed their writing.

[Researcher]

Happier times in Cape Girardeau --

Bonnie and I stopped by Cape several times on our way to or from her relatives in Kansas and Nebraska and the associated Pheasants.

[loggy]

I would have enjoyed being a fly on the wall during those visits!

[bbman3]

Wish i had known him! Bobby

[Don Ay]

sorry news indeed, I always enjoyed his articles in the Double Gun Journal

[Stan Hillis]

Wish i had known him! Bobby

Me too, Bobby. One story in particular stands out in my mind, about Pop Headrick shooting doves on a Missouri field with a big HE Fox. It prompted me to do the same a couple years ago in the late season here.

http://forum.foxcollectors.com/viewtopic.php?t=10113

[jolly bill]

Really sad to hear that. He and his dad were truly wonderful people. I did some trading with both of them and have a lot of correspondence and pictures including a Coot Island Gun Club membership card.

Yes, sad to hear that and may he rest in peace.

[44whiskey]

Jolly, can you elaborate on what Coot Island Gun Club was.thanks

[jolly bill]

Jolly, can you elaborate on what Coot Island Gun Club was.thanks

I can elaborate some and maybe other CIGC members/Researcher can add to it.

It was a membership in which you were invited to join. I'm thinking requirements of being a fan of nice old stuff: Fox and other nice old classical shotguns, Winchester's, decoys, old pocket knives and maybe a photography fan too.

I'm not sure if Coot Isle was real and existed in the Mississippi River that flowed along the east side of his home town of Cape Girardeau, MO. Or, would just be a good name for old guys, or "Old Coots", to get together and have a club.

And a good place to sit and chat and enjoy some sippin' whiskey. And maybe even a good cigar. As in the meeting room pictured below.

Bill and his dad were some of the best. I hope he passed peacefully.

Bill

[44whiskey]

thanks Jolly,i go to coffee once or twice a week with a group of retired pilots,most in their 80s. too often the news of one passing is the topic of the morning .i never tire of hearing their stories told and retold,and i think of these being lost as they pass.im glad this gent was an author and his stories will live on,fred

[Fin2Feather]

Jolly, I also have a lot of photos and correspondence from Bill and my Coot Isle membership card hangs above my desk. This is a pigeon decoy he made and gave to me; he also gave me a starling "decoy" and a shorebird "flattie" he made. The pigeon and starling came from sets he made and were shot over by Bill and Mike MacIntosh; gunning barnyard birds was a favorite pastime when they got together. The flattie was a prop in some of his images. I think I have a pic of the Coot Isle sign somewhere if I can find it...

[Researcher]

Bill lent me one of his pigeon decoys to use in one of my displays at a Maryland Arms Collectors Show --

Me & Balto #2.jpg (33.53 KiB) Viewed 401 times

but I had to send it back. I do have a wooden clay pigeon and a wormy cherry container that Pop Headrick turned on his wood lathe.

[Fin2Feather]

Haven't come across my pic of the sign just yet, but did find this about the origin of the Coot Isle...

"Ran across the Coot Isle sign at a local market of fleas, though no one had any idea from where
it originated. Never heard of such around these parts. More likely East Coast stuff. I've used
it in photos on occasion through the years. When the High Priestess and I bought these digs in
about 2006, the first order of business was to redecorate (paint, carpet, tile) the lower level which
had been architecturally done as a state of the art entertainment area in the early ’70s by a very
wealthy Cape resident (front man for one if the globe's largest construction companies). It was
seemingly a natural progression for the area to become The Coot Isle Gun Club."

[44whiskey]

thanks Fin2Feather,do you know who front man and construction co are,