PM Sherman Ruth: And rightfully so! Listening to your in- terview, if you know the characteristics of a bull, he might not say too much, but you also don't see too many people around him, because people are not going to mess with that bull. DGM James Baker: Oh no! Well, I have to mean what I say and say what I mean. We joke, we play, and stuff like that, but sometimes you
who you were based on our previous con- versations but hear- ing your journey and your life experiences it gives me that much more to admire about you, good sir. I really appreciate you and I applaud your life's work. I mentioned that Howard and I were in law school togeth- er. And I grew up watching the West- erns with my grand- father and my uncle and they gave me
just got to roughen up. You have to put your shoulder to the grinder and do what you got to do. There is an old story about people— Oh no, you are going to have to go to Grand Lodge to hear that [story]. [laughs] PR Department: [Laughs] PM Sherman Ruth: Okay, we look forward to that. We can sit down and have a glass of prune juice and get that story from you. Brother Baker, I know we spoke a few times before, that you question wheth- er or not you were a living legend. Hearing the answers to your interview questions, sir, we are here to tell you that you are a giant amongst men, and we stand on your shoulders as mem- bers of the Louisiana Jurisdiction. Prince Hall Masonry is better today because of brothers like you. You mentioned that you never sought any office in Freemasonry and the membership thought it was fitting to nominate you for office or asked you to serve. That is a testament to your character and your morals. I am a firm believer that when the people lead, the leaders will follow. You are a man of the people and the people
those words of wisdom. So, sitting at your feet, I was reflecting back to that. One of the shows that my grandfather really loved to watch was Colombo. Every week when Colombo was about to solve a mystery or he was inter- viewing one of the suspects, he would approach the door. And right before he opened the door, he would turn around and he would ask that gut- wrenching question to let them know that he was on to them. I don't know if you ever watched the TV series Co- lombo, but it was a good detective show. So, here is my Colombo mo- ment in this interview. DGM James Baker: That is what I was getting ready to ask. PR Depart- ment: [Laughs] PM Sherman Ruth: You know, I was setting it up. [laughs] Here is my Colombo moment. When I saw the name James E. and I saw a name in parentheses, “ Bull. ” Everybody refers to you as Bull Baker and your email address is “ old bully. ” I want to know how you get the name Bull. DGM James Baker: Well, I ’ m gonna tell you, there are a lot of stories sur- rounding the name. We had an old man lived up the road from us when I was a little baby, a young boy rather,
and his name was Bro. Bully. My family members said that I used to mock him a lot and they started call- ing me “ Bull ” after Bro. Bully. Another story that my family tell is that we had a dog named Bull and af- ter he was run over by a car, I cried so much that they called me Bull after the dog. My momma ’ s only brother said to call me Bull, because he knew what I would grow into [laughs]. So, I don ’ t really know. Now he had a last name for that Bull, you know. [laughs] PR Department: [Laughs] DGM James Baker: I don't know, I just go by the myths. Everyone called me Billy Ray when I was a kid and I thought that was my name at least un- til the fourth grade. I thought Bull was already my nickname by then. See, we went to school at the church, so I am not sure if they were referring to us or spelling a lot of our names correctly, but once we went to a regu- lar school that changed. [Enrolling in public school] we had to show birth certificates and stuff like that when I found out that my name was James Earl, Billy Ray was my nickname, and Bull was my future.
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