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Home My Public Portal AboutEdwards, JohnThe Star News 8/15/96 Former shore Lodge manager Edwards dies John Edwards Managed Shore Lodge and Brundage Mountain BY TOM GROTE The Star -Newt John Edwards, who managed Shore' Lodge in McCall for 32 years and Brundage Mountain Ski Area for 16 of those years, died on Monday from complications of cancer. Edwards, 69, died at his McCall home. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Community Congregational Church in McCall. Burial will be in McCall Cem- etery. Edwards managed Shore Lodge, McCall's largest motel with about 120 rooms and the town's only convention center, from 1960 to 1991. He was manager of Brundage Moun- tain from 1970 to 1986. He was born in England and worked as a young man for the exclusive Savoy hotel in London, where he worked his way to assistant front desk manager. Edwards discovered McCall while look- ing for summer lodging for an American couple who hosted him on a tour of how hotels in the United States were operated. Soon after, he married his wife, Ann Lloyd, in 1959. McCall sawmill owner Warren Brown, who was then Shore Lodge president, of- fered Edwards the job of running the lodge, which then had just 55 rooms and was in financial trouble. Edwards recruited Jim Lyons, who became his long -time assis- tant, and got the business back on its feet. "I painted every room in this hotel my- self, and we went down to the Little Salmon River and got the rock to build the walls that you see in the parking lot," he said in a 1991 interview upon his retirement. Edwards said in the interview that his conservative management practices en- abled Shore Lodge to survive while other businesses failed. "People look out onto the lake and ask, `How do I make a living in McCall?'" he said. "My advice is to watch the squirrels. They work their ass off in summer and gather nuts, and they chew on them all winter." Edwards owned 15 percent of the stock of Shore Lodge when San Diego devel- oper Douglas Manchester made a bid in 1989 to buy out the lodge's stock. The stockholders were mostly long -time Idaho families such as potato baron J.R. Simplot. Edwards, Simplot and others resisted Manchester's takeover attempt, forming their own group to make a counter -offer to the other stockholders. But in the end, the Idaho group relented to Manchester's bid of about $4.2 million. Edwards said the takeover period was a trying time for him, but he came to respect Manchester and the new owner's commit- ment in spending millions of additional dollars to renovate the lodge. Manchester also provided his private jet to Edwards for daily treatments in Boise when he was first diagnosed with cancer of the vocal chords in May 1991. He later had his vocal chords surgically removea, but still communicated by using an electronic vocalizer or by belching air. Edwards said in the 1991 interview that he was concerned development would overwhelm the beauty of Payette Lake, and that he would remain a loyal McCall resident. "People say, `Are you going to move to France?' " he said. "McCall is our home. Our friends are here. It's still a very special place." The Star News- 8/15/96 Edwards was McCall's anchor during hard times During his tenure running Shore Lodge and Brundage Mountain Ski Area, John Edwards was a symbol of the type of management style that allowed McCall to become the popular resort area it is today. His death on Monday represents the passing of an era when a philosophy of service combined with pragmatism was the best method for survival. Today, McCall is a boom town, with floods of tourists, new residents and second -home owners clogging Idaho 55. The economy has been strong for the past several years, bringing with it jobs and money, and there is no end in sight for the current growth spiral. It wasn't always that way, though, especially during the difficult transition years after Boise Cascade Corp. closed its sawmill in 1977. As the town struggled to make a name for itself as a destination for visitors, Shore Lodge and Brundage Mountain, under the management of Edwards, quietly served as the area's best ambassadors. Their ability to endure hard times ensured the rest of the town stayed afloat as well. Few people who knew Edwards had a neutral opinion of him. His booming English accent often carried stinging criticism for public officials and others whose opinions he disdained, but he was also legendary for his ability to work a crowd, entertaining with off -color stories and offering free advice on any subject, often unsolicited. He was known as a penny - pincher and a demanding boss, but he was also a generous and masterful host. Even those whq disliked him had to admire his perseverance, especially after cancer robbed him of his most precious tool, his voice. To the end, he was undeterred by his illness, and continued to advance ideals that he truly believed were best for his beloved home town. In today's era of corporate management and distant ownership, it is unlikely there will ever be another.John Edwards. His up- close, in- your -face, hands -on style made him a singular celebrity in McCall, for better or for worse. In a time when blandness and faceless bureaucracy is all too often the rule, Edwards injected McCall with a unique attribute - personality - and that will be sorely missed.