A tale of two brothers. How a Spartanburg lawmaker and his brother finally met a bear
When a black bear found refuge on a tree in front of First Presbyterian Church — a church across the road and only a few feet from his law firm ― Spartanburg lawmaker Max Hyde could not believe his luck.
It was April 6, and the pressure was on.
The 49-year-old state lawmaker sat beside other legislators in Columbia, scrambling to pass dozens of bills before next week when they were obligated to scrutinize Senate bills. Debate ensued, amendments were introduced and over 30 bills were shuttled over to the Senate.
But back home in Spartanburg, a growing crowd milled in front of his office on East Main Street. Police cars, Animal Services and the Department of Natural Resources set a perimeter. Among the leaves, perched on a tree, sat a 250-pound black bear.
Easter Sunday, First Presbyterian Church Pastor Alan Dyer told his congregation the CCTV footage showed the bear wandering in front of the church after 3 a.m. Thursday morning.
DNR officials told the Herald Journal that human-bear interactions are fairly common in Spartanburg and around Upstate SC.
During the three-hour commotion on April 6, it's clear the bear did not anticipate the attention.
And neither did a lawmaker who has always had a fascination with bears.
Black bear visits downtown Spartanburg: After three hours, bear removed from tree at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Spartanburg
Max and Warner Hyde: A tale of two brothers
A collection of bear sculptures and memorabilia dot Max Hyde's office. He shares a kindred spirit with the animal, he said with a laugh during a recent interview. In his office in Spartanburg, Hyde held up a book with a bear on the cover about human-animal interactions.
His duties at the Statehouse caused him to miss the bear across the street from his law office, but it brought back memories of his late brother, Warner Hyde.
On April 17, also the day of his wedding anniversary with his wife, Eliza, Hyde reflected as he looked at his brother's art on his walls. Near a window, a collection of Warner Hyde's pottery pieces sit adjacent to law books.
He looked over to a picture of his family and grew reminiscent.
Almost two decades ago, Hyde, then 30, asked his brother to go into the woods with him. He was nervous and sought clarity about proposing to Eliza. Who else could he rely on better than his brother?
They trekked up a mountain.
It was an idyllic day, Hyde said. The dense forests of the Appalachian region reminded him of the Robert Redford movie, “A River Runs Through It," set in the woods of Montana.
Brad Pitt and Craig Sheffer play two brothers who often escape to the woods to find peace and solace. Each has different goals for life. The two could not be more different from one another.
Warner Hyde was a flip-flop-wearing, free spirit with a deep understanding of nature. His artwork was seen in European museums. And he was described as a "true outdoorsman, descendant of Daniel Boone as he was."
Max Hyde was a lot more contemplative, enjoyed the complexities of politics and found peace in order. Both learned restraint and the willingness to let go.
Hyde said his relationship with his brother was similar to the movie's characters.
He was pensive, as he recalled his childhood. Growing up, the Spartanburg lawmaker favored law and politics.
“Unfortunately, for him, (Warner) always had to put up with my reputation coming behind me at school, for better or worse,” Hyde said.
Perhaps that was why his brother went the other way by honing his art and being outdoors ― or maybe it was Warner’s deep connection to the natural world.
Hours after escaping into the woods, Hyde trekked down the mountain with the conviction of proposing. Today, he and Eliza have been married for 19 years and have four children together.
A running bear joke between brothers that grew every year
If there's one thing to glean from Max Hyde's stories of his hikes with his brother, it is an enduring reflection of their relationship circled around a joke that grew with embellishments every passing year.
"One day, I'm gonna be by myself hiking in the mountains, I'm gonna come around the bend and run into a bear," Max Hyde would say to his brother.
And when that happens, Hyde joked, he would jump on the bear's back, put the animal in a headlock, and take him out.
In another version, he joked he would climb the tree faster than a bear and kick it.
Each time, his brother Warner responded, “No, you're not. You're just gonna die.”
The bear jokes continued. Max said the brothers laughed every time they went hiking.
Five years apart, their shared love for the outdoors bridged the slight age difference. Promises were made between the two. Decisions were fleshed out in the woods.
Soon, as they grew older, their paths diverged.
Warner became a professor and professional artist. He taught at Meredith College in Raleigh and was tenured by the age of 34. artist in Pittsboro, North Carolina.
Max became an attorney, a city council member, and later, a lawmaker in the South Carolina House of Representatives.
But they would always find each other in the middle.
Over the years, Max said Warner suffered heartbreak and a divorce. He bounced back and found love again. And through it all, he would remain his brother's biggest supporter.
Five years ago, Warner told his brother he would do well as a lawmaker in the Statehouse.
“He was always looking to help some way,” Hyde said.
The Spartanburg lawmaker was a city councilman then before deciding to run against County Councilman, O'Neal Mintz, for House District 32 at his brother's urging. Since no Democrats filed for his seat, the election was going to be decided in the June 12 Republican primary.
But tragedy struck 12 days before the 2018 primaries.
On May 31, 2018, Warner Hyde died peacefully in his sleep. At just 39, doctors said his untimely death was due to a heart condition.
His obituary stated, "He adored hunting, fishing and observing keenly every detail of God's creation from a deer stand."
Warner Hyde would be put to rest at First Presbyterian Church, next to his uncle and namesake, Fusselle Warner Earle. Hyde won his Statehouse election two weeks later. Though he was happy, he couldn't chase away the gaping absence by his side.
Max Hyde: He's always here with us
Two weeks after the bear became an overnight sensation in Spartanburg, Hyde walked to the tree where the bear found its refuge.
He raised his arm and pointed one to his office and the other to his brother's final resting place. “So the bear comes literally about 30 yards from my brother's grave and about 30 yards from my office in between both of us,” Hyde said. "Maybe my brother sent the bear to check on me."
All those times they joked about taking on a bear. Well, now, the bear had come to them.
This year, it will be five years since his brother passed away. Max Hyde is grateful for the things he learned along the way.
“It helped me understand that almost everybody I encountered has had some hardship,” he said.
It enabled him to connect and empathize with other people who have suffered a loss. He grows pensive and thinks about the growing chasm within the Republican Party across the state.
Maybe empathy was the antidote? he wondered.
“When you have those valleys, that's when you appreciate the mountaintop,” he said.
Months after his brother's death, Hyde moved his law firm to a building off East Main directly across the street from the church.
Occasionally, he peeks out of his window in the direction of where his brother rests and where the bear appeared.
Near or far away, bear or no bear, he is always going to stay close.
Devyani Chhetri covers South Carolina politics for the Greenville News, Spartanburg Herald-Journal and Anderson Independent Mail. Reach her via email at dchhetri@gannett.com. Find her on Twitter @ChhetriDevyani.
This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Here's how a Spartanburg lawmaker and his brother finally met a bear
