?The staff of Oil and Gas Investor has said goodbye to a dear friend and colleague, former senior financial editor Brian A. Toal, who passed away in February in Denver after a brief illness.
Sign the online memory book for Brian Toal here.
Brian retired in January 2008 after more than 22 years with this magazine, although he continued to contribute his column “On the Money,” which appeared on this page through the September 2008 issue.
He came to us in 1985, after compiling an impressive career as an award-winning U.S. Army correspondent in Korea, on the ABC-TV network news team in New York, and in media relations with Shell Oil Co. in New York, New Orleans and Denver.
At that time, the industry was going through a significant downturn, and the four-year-old magazine was still refining its niche. Brian’s greatest contribution was to nurture relationships with analysts, investors and financiers on Wall Street and in Houston, Calgary and Toronto, bringing a new sophistication to the content. He interviewed investment bankers, commercial lenders and private-equity managers, E&P and service-company executives throughout the oil patch.
“He was the consummate professional, very conscientious, and he had such a dry sense of humor. He was very funny. I enjoyed working with him,” says Bernard J. Picchi, longtime oil and gas analyst with a number of New York investment banking firms, and currently, a consultant to the buyside. Brian interviewed him many times over the years and they became friends.
“It is hard for me to express the immense respect and admiration in which I held Brian. His loss will be keenly felt by everyone on the staff,” says Peggy Williams, senior exploration editor. “Brian was first and foremost a professional, but beyond that he was a wonderful colleague: fiercely loyal, smart and highly skilled. When I was new to the staff, Brian offered me encouragement and support, and we became good friends.”
No one on the staff knew Brian better than Investor photo editor Lowell Georgia, who traveled with him often.
“Brian and I traveled together for assignments for 20-plus years. Whether to Canada, China, Poland and Trinidad and Tobago or to his favorite destination, his hometown, New York City, Brian made lifelong friends wherever we traveled.
“He had a bear-trap memory…Once met, Brian always called people by their first names. His friendships included just about everyone from the top financial analysts of Wall Street, the Midwest, West Coast, Calgary and Toronto, to the doorman at a hotel in Los Angeles or waiter at a favorite restaurant in New York. He was a gentleman.
“In New York, with time to kill between appointments, Brian liked to walk the streets or ride the subway rather than taking a cab. Working with Brian meant: bring your walking shoes. If we did take a cab, and the driver happened to take a wrong turn, he’d get an earful of Irish temper. God help the cab driver who didn’t take the shortest route from La Guardia to Midtown when Brian was a passenger.
“Having done so many interviews, we privately joked that if we were pressed for time, all interviews really come down to three questions: ‘Where ’ya been? Where ’ya now? Where ’ya going?’ But Brian never rushed an interview, and would spend two hours if need be.
“When Brian sat down to write, his diet was strong coffee and cigarettes until he finished his story. He’d literally work all night when fighting a deadline.
“He was a friend to all, and a man of his word who reported accurately through the roller-coaster years of the energy business,” says Georgia.
Brian was untiring in his efforts to get the story right. He was a gentleman, a mentor, a movie and literature buff, and a friend. I will miss his intellect and Irish wit, and learn from his dedication.
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