A Life of Words

I learned very sad news over the weekend – that yet another friend from my formative years is gone. David Fisher, a gifted photographer who spent many long hours with us working for The Battalion, the student newspaper at Texas A&M, in the early 1980s, lost his courageous struggle with pancreatic cancer. He was only 64 years old.

David, the hard-working heart and soul of his beautiful family featuring his wife Boonpeng and their four children (Zach, Ethan, Katheryne and Audrey), was the proprietor of the Fisher Family Farm & Ranch in tiny Fruitvale, Texas, a little over an hour east of Dallas. He made deliveries of fresh produce all over the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including one time to our home three years ago, when Kay and I had no idea who surreptitiously left a milk crate full of delicious veggies at our front door. (We found out later that David had dropped them off during one of his deliveries to our area.)

He grew up in Grand Saline, just down the road from Fruitvale, and twanged the same drawl his whole life. David had a giving heart and a talent for many things, among them one that took him to Hollywood, where he lived for years when he was younger and spent a good bit of time as a stunt/visual effects actor on several movies and on the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. David also spent 10 years living in Thailand, where he met his wife and three of their children were born.

I took off work a few hours Monday afternoon so I could drive the 90 or so miles to Fruitvale to attend David’s service at the town’s First Baptist Church. The small church was overflowing with people, many of whom have known David all his life. At the packed reception afterward, I met his wife and children, two of whom I’d been messaging with since learning about their father’s passing. It wasn’t difficult to see that despite David’s months of cancer treatments, they are all in shock while grieving their tragic loss.

At Texas A&M, David showed a knack for taking photographs of every shape and event, whether it was news, features, or sports, where he excelled. He and I flew with the Aggie basketball team to Anchorage, Alaska, during Thanksgiving week of 1982 when I was a senior to cover the Great Alaska Shootout, stopping off in Grand Saline to meet his parents on our way to D-FW to catch our flight.

What a blast we had for a few days in Alaska (see some of David’s awesome pictures above with part of my story, downloaded from The Battalion’s online archives). I also remember a driving trip with David and fellow Batt sports writers John Wagner and Bill Robinson (RIP) to cover the 1982 Southwest Conference basketball tournament at Reunion Arena (also RIP) in Dallas.

David also was one of the engaging personalities in our newsroom, where we all spent ungodly long hours, who kept us smiling and laughing with his good nature and humor. We all were dedicated student journalists (while also trying to make it to class and actually study!), and he did his best to keep things light and bearable. We had several awesome staffers who were like that.

I last saw David three years ago when he came by our house in SW Arlington during one of his delivery runs. We had a wonderful 45-minute visit standing in the driveway, reminiscing about the A&M days and catching up on our families. He knew he’d been blessed with a beautiful family and took nothing for granted. I am heartbroken for Boonpeng and their children.

David, thank you for your friendship over the past 40-plus years and for your support in college. We will miss your charm, wit, work ethic and the strong sense of devotion you displayed in every aspect of your life. God bless you and your family. ❤