Looking Back With Lee: Remembering Sam Lawrence

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By Lee Canalizo

“Dear Sam…..you were one-in-a-million! I loved being in your company along with Marion, talking dogs and a myriad of other things. You were the best in so many ways. We have lost a giant of a man! There will never be another Sam Lawrence. I hope you can see your beloved dogs and your departed friends once again. We will miss you and will always love you.”

The above was written on the occasion of Sam’s death in January of 2011. It was how I felt then and it is how I feel today. Sam was truly a giant of a man and one-in-a-million, in all respects, not only in the dog world.

Sam Lawrence was born in Russia in 1921. He came to the United States as a small boy in 1925. He grew up for the most part on the East Coast, but spent time in Washington State as well. He served our country in the Marine Corp. and the most wonderful picture I ever saw of Sam was in his Marine officer’s uniform. He was extremely handsome as a young man, with the dark good looks of a Tyrone Power. For you youngsters out there, Tyrone Power was a movie heartthrob of the 1940s and ‘50s.

After distinctively completing his service to his country, he established himself as a tobacco grower in Connecticut. This area was, at the time, where much of the shade tobacco was grown in this country. Obviously, this is no longer the case, but back then you could see mile after mile of the old tobacco sheds lining the landscape. We used to see this often as it was in the same area where Bob and Babbie Tongren lived. We were fortunate to spend time with them frequently, especially if the dog shows were in Connecticut or we were breeding a bitch to one of their boys.

Getting back to Sam, he was busy, not only with his growing endeavors, but he was then a Representative in the Connecticut State Legislature. If you ever read the book or saw the movie “Parrish”, you saw the story that was inspired by Sam’s life… up to that time! There was still so much of that life to come; they could have probably produced another movie.

In the late ‘50s, Sam and his then-wife moved to the Orlando Florida area, where he became involved in establishing Budget Rent a Car. This, as we all know, became quite successful, and served Sam very well.

Sam was a great believer in education and put his money where his mouth was! He endowed much to Rollins College during his lifetime and was a staunch supporter of American Art and Artists. I am proud to say several of my early paintings were in the Lawrence’s collection… way down at the bottom of the prominence scale, to be truthful, but they were hanging among the famous works at Sam and Marion’s home!

In his spare time, Sam was a hunter and an avid fisherman with a home in the “wilds” of Montana, but he was a devoted German Shepherd Dog man, first and foremost. He loved his Shepherds, but he was an astute student of most breeds and appreciated quality in any breed. He was a judge of German Shepherds – almost exclusively at the specialty level. He was very particular and would settle for only the best. Individuals of his ilk, interestingly, had some prerequisites when it came to “backing” a new charge. Sure, it would be easy to get behind a big winner at the height of a career, but like most patrons of the sport, he had to have a connection to the dog. It was often a discovery of their own when they saw something that sparked their attention. Many times it was a young hopeful. Once Sam found a special dog, he held nothing back. I clearly remember him seeing one of the Grandeur dogs as a wee puppy and without hesitation endeavored to join forces with Roger Rechler for that youngster. They couldn’t work out the details to either one’s satisfaction, but remained good dog show friends. Not surprisingly, each had great mutual respect for one another.

Let me tell you a cute story. When Sam was running Cryptonite for top dog and the race was widely known to be a close one…Roger detected an error in a Gazette that had a BIS won by his Ch. Triumph of Grandeur being incorrectly credited to Sam’s Doberman, Cryptonite. Well, it was clear that Roger’s TR would not overcome him for top dog but there was one very close contender, so Roger let it ride…it turned out it wasn’t going to impact the eventual standings anyway and “Kafka” went second in the overall year-end standings. (I wonder what those gentleman would have done if it had been closer?) But in true sporting fashion, Roger made sure Michael revealed what they may or may not have actually known just before Kafka was to break the Top Working Dog of All Time record…for that, one had better be perfectly sure of their numbers…so when you see that big gold bracelet on George Murray’s wrist with 123+1 on it…now you know why!

Sam campaigned four dogs that won more than 100 Best in Show awards: Kafka, the Black Cocker Spaniel, Ch. La-Shay’s Bart Simpson, the Wire Fox Terrier, Ch. Registry’s Lonesome Dove (winner of over 200 Best in Shows) and the Maltese, Ch. Ta-Jon’s Tickle Me Silly.

He also had many other top dogs that he “discovered”. A personal favorite was his charming house dog Kevin, his top Pembroke Welsh Corgi. In addition to his canine discoveries, Sam had to have a closeness with each and every one of his handlers. He taught many a fledging handler the “old school” method of the sport. Many a handler became aware of “The Sam Lawrence Tickie” and many a handler wanted to be in his fold for sure. A “Tickie” was Sam’s way to provide a bit of incentive to his handlers. I believe it went something like this: They got a dollar a dog defeated at events up to 2,000 dogs and three dollars a dog for shows that were over 2,000 dogs. That made for some great incentive I think! Sam came to me and sought my opinion on a relatively new handler in our area with great hands and even more potential. I could easily concur with his findings and, unbeknownst to Sam, that same person came to me seeking advice on all the what-if’s. He was questioning his ability to take on such a responsibility. Everyone made good sound decisions and a strong relationship lasts to this day between the Lawrence family and Frank Murphy. He had taken notice of a breeder/owner/handler showing a new breed in the working group. It was Kristen Kleeman and she had the young new Champion, CH Derby’s Kleiner Kaiser, at their Greater Swiss Mountain Dog National. Long before any winner was indicated, that dog caught Sam’s eye and as they say, the rest was history. Many firsts for the Greater Swiss Mountain dog were accomplished by “Mikey” with Sam and Kristen always close by to see each milestone. Sam made every effort possible right up to the time that his health prevented him to be ringside with his dogs. He was that “hands-on” and it should also be noted that these great dogs could put on a performance with Sam five feet away, as they had that kind of temperament. An owner didn’t have to be whisked away because they wouldn’t show well…that sort of handicapping just wasn’t acceptable.

My best moment upon arriving at a dog show was seeing Sam sitting at the foot of the “down and back”, and knowing that I would be welcome to join him for an afternoon of stimulating dog talk and maybe a bit of gossip as well! Often we would end the day with dinner at a nice restaurant, discussing the day’s events and giving our “expert opinion” of all things dog.

I fondly remember one of Sam’s biggest conundrums. It was while Bob Covey was showing Bart Simpson. Let’s just say Bob wasn’t an “on-time” sort of guy….and dinner was always on some kind of delay. However, all was forgiven when Sam took on Silly, the Maltese. Tammy Simon wouldn’t think of going anywhere until her perfect white coat was in order, and Sam being the perfect gentleman, would never start a meal until everyone was situated.
He also did many, many generous things for the dog family that went unheralded at his request.

I miss these wonderful days and I especially miss Sam. He truly was a giant of a man and I am afraid we will not see his like again.

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Posted by Alex on May 13 2014. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.