Jim Chapman - 'I'm so proud I'm about to pop'

This is a must-read if it inspires you to see creative professionals in their eighties doing amazing work! Also, for golf nuts like me who admire Bobby Jones and the game's history. Jim Chapman is the grandfather of my son-in-law, Taylor Wilkinson. He is also a prolific Autodesk software user!

Jim Chapman paused midway up the hill and soaked it all in for a minute. Chapman is on the closing holes of a brilliant career as an architect, someone who has specialized for years in clubhouse construction and renovation. He has been associated with some of the nation's most iconic clubs, among them Congressional Country Club outside of Washington and Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania.

But there is something special about the Bobby Jones project for Chapman, who grew up in Atlanta and understands the importance of the Jones name and legacy.

"I'm so proud, I'm about to pop!" . . . 

Link to article here.

Here's a heart-warming post on GDad from my son-in-law, Taylor.

Special stuff!

Taylor and Granddaddy Jim Chapman in Miami

Love this picture of Taylor and his Grandfather in Miami together! What a special trip for these two. Be sure to check out the below earlier post on Jimmy and his work at Chapman Design Studios. I especially love his work in the golf industry and his portfolio is quite impressive.

Nugget from son-in-law 'T'! - Celebrating his Granddaddy: Architect, Jimmy Chapman

Jim Chapman (82) on life habits that have helped him stay RELEVANT

Lucy,

With line-of-sight on eight generations of working professionals, I'm studying what it takes to maintain 'relevance' and find your 'voice' throughout your career and your life. Put another way, what does purposeful-work look like in your twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, and so forth, allowing unique individuals to do amazing work well into their 9th and even 10th decade of life!

Taylor's grandfather Jimmy Chapman (82), is a great example. The photo is Jimmy talking to your sister Sally about architecture projects in his Atlanta office. (See Jimmy's crowning achievement: 'I'm so proud I'm about to pop.')

I recently encouraged Sally and Taylor to interview Jimmy, before they left for London for the next three years. The interview is remarkable, and I am certain it will be treasured. Today, on Fit as a Fiddle Friday, listen to Jimmy's response to this question:

What life hacks or habits do you consider the most important that have allowed you to stay healthy and maintain high-energy for so many years?

Five takeaways:

1. Infused with a love of movement and physical activity at an early age
2. The importance of 'energy' and 'discipline' when you need to spend long hours at your craft
3. Variety and diversification of exercise throughout life
4. Develop habits that involve fitness
5. Have a 'place to go', surround yourself with like-minded individuals

Great stuff, LuLu. 

Stay fit,

Dad

Nugget from son-in-law 'T'! - Celebrating his Granddaddy: Architect, Jimmy Chapman

Dear Lucy, 

Hope your time at Texas A&M is off to a fast start – and you can take a spare minute to read a quick note. Your dad asked me to write a “guest nugget” for him. What an honor! 

So I thought I would honor someone else in turn. Let me tell you about my Granddad Jimmy. Jimmy is my friend, mentor, workout buddy, fishing partner, and an all-American. As the architect on some amazing golf course clubhouses (Oakmont, Oak Hill, Southern Hills, and TPC Sawgrass among them) you’d think he would’ve tired from working so hard. But each piece of new “work” he picks up makes him smile as big as the first, and he is still working 10 hour days at age 80.

He recently took up riding in Uber as opposed to driving (not entirely by choice) and he knows how to work an iPhone with the best of us. He would much rather hug than shake your hand. There is nothing more exciting to him than the feel of a fish tugging on his line out in the middle of the Atlantic. Except maybe when he sees me three mornings a week at the gym!

If I could give you some advice, it would be to love everything and everyone in your life the way he does – and to find a career that will make you want to keep doing it well past 80!

Gig'em Lucy,

Taylor

P.S. See Chapman Design Studio work here.