Dick Baird-Kerr
Taken in Met Lab at Hilton Works

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Andrew Baird-Kerr emailed me today:

Hello Mr McKay,

I am Andrew Baird-Kerr, son of Dick Baird-Kerr.

I happened across your blog in searching for anything with my dad's name on it. I also found the patent for an invention he worked on for Stelco R&D, namely a single-sided galvanizing process - I remember him mentioning this way back about 1980.

My father passed away on May 10, 2006, a month after his 77th birthday, following an eleven month battle with lung cancer. He lived a healthy life up to that point, and during the cancer bout was the first and only time he ever stayed overnight in a hospital. It was only in the final week that he had become incoherent.

I am happy that you compiled your photos and memories into this blog. I saw a few familiar names and faces in there.

The only names I can remember, and of whom I have never seen or heard of in over twenty years, would be yourself, Dan Sakai, Rick Minion, Ray Addinall, and Sasha Kosakov. My dad was quite fond of Sasha, and often spoke admiringly of his work. He was also friends with Art Scott, who I think was a security guard there.

Back about 1976, my dad took me to a coin show in Toronto with Art Scott, who was an avid collector. I was then 11 years old. At lunch time they visited a place called Harvey Wallbanger, a lower-priced steak place. It was something like Ponderosa, where you ordered your steak on a cafeteria style line. I had a cheeseburger while my dad and Art ordered steaks. At the table, my dad made a comment to Art about his steak being tough, adding, "It must have been a young horse." He said it seriously, and for years after that, I honestly thought steak was horse meat.

My dad always referred to work as "The Lab". Sometimes on a Saturday he might go into The Lab to check on the "Salt Test". Sometimes, when I was about 9 or 10 years old (c. 1974) he would take me with him and show me some stuff around The Lab. It was a sizable lab that he had, and I always assumed that he worked there with a few others. It was only recently that I asked him about this and he said that he had that lab all to himself. He loved working there: loved it with a passion. After retirement, he missed his lab terribly.

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Ron Jamieson, Dick Baird-Kerr and Harold Cipywnyk
Don George and Harry Hodds

This team edited the Third Edition of the Communications Handbook. They worked long hours, frequently on their own time, to compile the edition. They earned the respect and thanks of Stelco technical report writers. – Jock McKay 1978