[CQ-Contest] Goodbye Bill

[Tom Horton]

Kirk,
  I never had the opportunity to meet Bill in person, only via the
radio, and then only in contests and reflectors mailings.
  Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings with the rest of us.
I think that many of us just have no idea of what we missed in not
knowing Bill!
  RIP  W4AN!
73, Tom K5IID



At 04:41 04/12/04, you wrote:
>This has been a tough time.  I barely know
>what to write, and it's been a week now.
>Here is what it was like for me to know W4AN.
>
>Bill and I were only two months apart in age, and
>I was pretty much in awe of the man. Just as the
>Tennessee Contest Group was forming, Trey Garlough
>(WN4KKN/N5KO/HC8N) led the way to online contesting
>discussion with with CQ-Contest at TGV.COM. Bill Fisher
>took the flag and ran with it.   After W4AN established
>Contesting.Com, I was convinced that the TCG needed an
>online forum, and I set up a mailing list and website for
>the Group.  I knew these guys were on to something, and I
>tried to pay close attention to their on-air and on-line
>activities.  Trey and Bill both were on their way to
>becoming world-class contesters, with amazing CW and
>online community building skills.
>
>Though I hardly knew the man, Bill Fisher's
>effect on me was strong. By good fortune and
>good friend, I had the opportunity to operate
>with Bill twice. The first time was CQWW CW 2001.
>the crew was W4AN, W4PA, W4OC and K4RO. Scott put
>in the good word for me. I had to (regretfully)
>turn down an opportunity to sit at K3LR the previous
>season, and I was determined to make it to Bill's.
>I was scared out of my wits.  I felt like I had been
>summoned to Mount Olyumpus to operate with Zeus. It
>was my first taste of world-class multi-op contesting.
>My happiest moment of the weekend was when Bill walked
>into the shack about 36 hours into it and said, "this
>is a good team."  That's all it took.  That and the
>incredible experience of Going For It with The Best.
>
>I was honored to be invited back for ARRL DX CW 2002,
>where I got to operate with low band experts W8JI and
>K9AY, along with  Bill and his WRTC partner K4BAI.
>This was another multi-op thrill from the Dahlonega
>mountaintop, and I marvelled at every minute. I have
>two memories that stick out from that weekend.  The first
>was when I was running EU in the morning, and Bill was
>stooped over with me with split headphones listening
>to me operate.  I was so nervous I could barely operate.
>He was correcting and complimenting me in Real Time and
>I was just overloading mentally.  I looked at Bill and
>shouted "YOU'RE MAKING ME NERVOUS."  He cracked a small
>grin, put his hand on my shoulder and said "I have that
>effect on people." I stopped being nervous and dug into
>the pileup with gusto. Bill's intensity was greater than
>a 3-500Z at 2KW RTTY. The second memory was seeing the
>labels on the operating table which read "I love You" and
>"I miss you" which were obviously placed there by his family.
>
>After the birth of Erik, Bill made it clear that he was
>going to sacrifice his love of contesting to spend more
>time with his son. I was disappointed at the prospect of
>not operating again from Dahlonega for a while, but I was
>also looking forward to someday again getting that orange
>north Georgia clay all over everything again, and operating
>with The Best.
>
>The last year, my only contact wil Bill was during CW Sprint
>time. It was always an honor to try to do my best, so that
>I might make it to Team 1 in the South East Sprint Consortium.
>Bill could motivate me with with a one sentence email.  Like this:
>
>Fisher: "Are you ready to be on Team One for SCCC Sprint OM?"
>Me to myself: "(Holy $#!+ I better get my act together now!)"
>...
>Then I'd spend the next month on the air trying to get my
>CW skills polished to the best of my ability.  That's the
>kind of leader Bill was.  He was honest to the bone, and he
>commanded my respect as a result. He was honest, but he had
>a heart like no other.  There was a compassion behind his honesty
>in that you knew he exhausted every possiblity before assuring
>you that he was right. He didn't waste your time with any BS, and
>he asked the same in return. I really respected that.
>
>The amazing quality that I remember most about Bill
>was how much a good word from him meant.  Like it
>or not, we've chosen one another as peers.  There
>was something so genuine about Bill that it was like
>he had paid all the dues anyone could possibly pay.
>If he gave you a good word, you can bet it was earned.
>
>Two of my most admired contesting comrades and teammates
>have passed on since our last CW Sprint together just
>two months ago. I feel a hole like I've never felt before,
>despite many encounters with death.  We were a big part of
>Bill's family.  I think about how he chose us as HIS peer
>group, if not his adopted family. I remember that Bill Fisher
>knew a good thing (and good people) when he saw it.
>
>I doubt anyone of us really know the lengths Bill went to
>in order to earn our respect.  That we were able to return
>some of that respect this weekend is the only thing that
>has made any sense to me since last Sunday.
>
>I'll miss you and remember you OM.
>
>73
>
>-Kirk  K4RO
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Finally back home in TEXAS!
Hillsboro, TX
"E"  Sorter for the ARRL W5 QSL Bureau

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