Edward Faust Nicholson

Teddy Nicholson was my childhood friend, my beat friend. As teenagers we both loved the outdoors and the hunting and shooting sports.

As kids we worked at the Greenville gun club during the summers loading the clay targets in the skeet and trap machines, cleaning up the fields and doing what ever we were told to do. We did this to get free time on the skeet range after the club was closed.

We honed our shooting skills and became excellent shots. Teddy was exceptionally good, and was the best shooter I have ever seen. He literally could shoot clay pigeons with trick shots behind his back or between his legs, it was amazing to watch. I imagine few people ever knew how talented he was.

One day Teddy made me get up at 2:00am to drive to Santee for opening day of duck season. Teddy had a secret spot on the water in Sparkleberry Swamp. We got to his spot and watched the sun come up as it unexpectedly snowed... our duck boat was tied to a massive cypress tree covered in Spanish moss, we were deep in the swamp and it was snowing ! Shooting ducks as they weave through the snow and the cypress trees is a surreal experience...it was beautiful. I was there and have that memory because of my best friend Teddy.

Teddy loved the outdoors and hunting. Together we learned that in order to be a good hunter, we had to understand, (what we could) about nature...from weather patterns and the changing seasons, to animal behavior and biology...
...how to read the signs they leave behind in their world

We learned how to observe, and be patient...to know exactly when and how to act...decisively

We learned the laws of nature were in-fact Gods laws and are a gift to those who could to sit quietly and still in the forest for hours

To see with our own eyes the truth found in the laws of nature...we learned about life.

Together we would feel the wind´s direction in the forest, we would smell the blue perfume of pine trees waiving on a ridge

We learned to be patient and gentle with puppies, they have to learn like we do

We hunted fast and frosty winter rabbits together

I watched Teddy smoothly deliver perfect passing shots on rocket fast doves
moving through the morning sun...and woodcocks at dusk that fall from the sky like broken helicopters with no direction in the cold evening...Teddy was a remarkable shot.

He loved to catch bass ...on ponds as still as glass ...at sunset...
Teddy would spend hours in a small boat on a small pond observing nature, it was his favorite place to go.

Teddy was a special person that God created to touch lives in special ways.
He touched my life and I am blessed because of it.

We spent so much time in the forest, we moved beyond observation and become a part of the natural world ...A world of Gods creations

Teddy and I lived and felt those special moments and many more together...too many to count

I will always remember these beautiful experiences that shaped my life with my best friend Teddy Nicholson

Rest peacefully my friend

J. Marshall Dye III