Big Daddy Lawler Honored at Roland Cooper State Park

Commissioner Blankenship said his first encounter with Lawler left him sleep-deprived before a momentous event in his career.

"The first time I met Big Daddy was the night before Governor Ivey swore me in as Commissioner. I came down to Roland Cooper State Park for the alligator hunt. We were down here until about 3 in the morning, watching them weigh in alligators. I finally told Big Daddy, 'I've got to go back to Montgomery and get a couple of hours sleep before the Governor swears me in. I don't want to fall asleep at my swearing in ceremony,'" he said.

"While we were down here for the hunt, Big Daddy said, 'Walk with me, I want to show you something.' We left the pavilion and walked down the hill to show me this bank down here. He said, 'We host a lot of fishing tournaments here at the park, and they bring a lot of money into the community. But when we host these tournaments, they have to bring those $150,000 boats and run them up on the bank because we don't have a pier. We don't have a place for them to tie up to have a tournament weigh-in. And the folks coming up and down the Alabama River don't have a place to moor overnight. We need something in this part of the state, and this would be a fine spot for it right here.'"

Commissioner Blankenship and Deputy Commissioner Ed Poolos got to work to make Big Daddy's idea a reality. Poolos was able to find some funding with a Boating Infrastructure Grant funded through ADEM and matched with Alabama State Park funds. The pier was christened by Governor Ivey in the summer of 2021.

Camden City Councilman Jimmy Brock told the story about how James Lawler became Big Daddy. Lawler and some of his teen-aged friends were target shooting with pistols.

"They fired and fired and one of them handed a pistol to James Lawler and said, 'Here, Big Daddy, take this thing and see what you can do with it,'" Brock said. "And he did a good job of shooting that pistol and that name stayed with him.

"I want to share two things about James Lawler that made him Big in my opinion. First was his Big personality. He could tell a good story. He could emcee an event, host a broadcast and shoot the breeze better than anyone I ever met. His 'Gettin' Outdoors' and Facebook page introduced Wilcox County and the Alabama River to folks all over the world. His Big personality brought thousands of hunters and fishermen to our area. The second thing that made him Big was his love for God's creation."

Kay Donaldson, Director of the Alabama Bass Trail, said Lawler's impact on the Black Belt and tournament fishing in the area will be felt for generations.

"I know you know what he meant to this community," Donaldson said. "I can't begin to tell you what he meant to me as a mentor and as a father figure, but I can tell you between (Alabama State Parks Director) Greg Lein, Chris Blankenship and the leadership of Governor Ivey's office, the dreams came through for Big Daddy Lawler. The economic impact this has had on this community will never be forgotten. It will live on forever."

Donaldson remembered the first big tournament held in Wilcox County and how an overjoyed Lawler judged its success.

"We sold Hardee's out of sausage on a Wednesday," she said. "That's how Big Daddy talked about the economic impact. It wasn't about hotel rooms or other revenue, it was 'We sold Hardee's out of sausage.'"

Joe Allen Dunn of Thomasville was one of Lawler's closest friends. How close? "There were only two people who cooked him more meals than I have, his momma and the lunchroom lady at school," Dunn said.

Dunn also said it wasn't just about hunting and fishing for Big Daddy. It was about all of the natural world.

"He was really big into birds," he said. "We'd be fishing, and he'd spot a bird and tell me exactly what it was. But I got tickled when I put up a gourd for a bird nest at the house. Big Daddy wanted to put a camera up to video the bird. We put it up, and it lasted about a week. On one of the pictures, he said, 'Come here and look at this.' It was a snake. It got the bird. I said I ought to kill that snake. Big Daddy said, 'Naw, naw, the snake's gotta eat too. It's just part of nature.'"

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