My grandson and I, over the years, had the good fortune to have had exposure to the extraordinary Vic Fischer. And so, despite the dreadfully uneven road and street conditions, we trundled off to Anchorage Sunday afternoon to the memorial being held in his honor at the Captain Cook hotel ballroom. It was a spectacular gathering of all the contributing characters in the state over the past decades, with a parade of testimonials and stories, many powerful and all colorful and complimentary at every turn. Honor and appreciation for his wife, Jane Angvik, were steadily verbalized, as they were a strong team.
The fine cellist Zuill Bailey sealed the ceremonies with the dramatic sounds of the instrument that Vic thought he would like to return as, and I doubt it will be possible for anyone in that room to ever hear a cello again without thinking of Vic Fischer.
Driving home was quiet. Negotiating the back roads in Bird Creek was quiet (and tricky). In the morning, my grandson was looking out the cabin window at the new blizzard in full force, and suddenly, he said with great emphasis, “Wow! What a lot of good-intentioned people!”
The mentoring that was emphasized by Vic and many others was at work in the ballroom.
— Joan Daniels
Bird Creek
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