Tributes 2016
Remembering those we have
lost this year.
Bob and Jane Forsyth
Robert S. Forsyth
AUGUST 21, 1923 - SEPTEMBER 26, 2016
BY WAYNE CAVANAUGH
here is a photograph I’ve kept in my desk for more than 30 years. It’s not the best photo
— just a snapshot, grainy, distant, a little out of focus, but it’s a picture I’ll always cherish
and a night I will never forget: February 10, 1981, the Westminster Kennel Club Best in
Show ring. The rosette and silver had been presented at center court, and the applause had
started to fade into the rustle of winter coats and camera crews. Bob Forsyth, with his inimitable
stride and presence, had congratulated the winner and was walking out of the ring for the last
time as a professional handler. One of the sport’s most essential chapters was about to close.
Some of us thought the chapter could have closed with a better last sentence. Bob had won a
strong Hound Group that night with the Whippet ‘Buoy,’ Ch. Sporting Fields Clansman, but Lang
Skarda gave the final nod to Bobby Barlow with the Pug, Ch. Dhandy’s Favorite Woodchuck.
Bobby Barlow wore a red sport coat and red socks that night and ran with the Pug on the final
go around. Bob, the purist, walked with the Whippet, classic harmony, speed and cadence, as
only he could. Just as he did after every show, Bob congratulated the winner, then walked back
to the crates with his unmistakable presence, every bit the gentleman. This time, though, he
took the brass “Bob and Jane Forsyth” nameplates off each and every one of the oak crates
and tack boxes and just like that, it was all over.
That night in 1981 wasn’t the first time Bob had won the Hound Group at the Garden with
a Whippet. In 1964 and 1965, when Westminster was held further uptown on 50th Street
at the “old Garden,” Bob won back-to-back Groups with ‘Ricky,’ Ch. Courtenay Fleetwood
of Pennyworth, and went on to Best in Show in 1964. I was there that night in 1964 too,
watching with a few other kids who competed in Junior Showmanship the day before and
stayed to watch the masters who would later become our mentors.
T
The University of Grayarlin
Those of us who had the privilege and honor of working for Bob and Jane Forsyth knew we
were working for the best. We didn’t know, however, that we were working for one of the last
great all-breed handling teams in the sport and the only husband-and-wife team to each win
Best in Show at the Garden. That night in 1981, the door of opportunity to work for handlers
who could show and trim every breed — Poodles, terriers, sporting dogs and anything in between — was quietly closing. Of course, there are some true all-breed exceptions today (Will
Alexander, Bill and Taffe McFadden, and Bobby Fisher come to mind). However, the scope
of breeds the Forsyths showed, the sheer size of Grayarlin kennel, the quality and quantity of
clients and dogs, and the chance for assistants to learn about all breeds will never be the same.
88
DOGSinREVIEW.com