I’ve written many obits and elegies and thought that writing Ned Fritz’s biography would be the same. The person lives in you for a day or more. You channel their life. Indeed, Ned is a presence in my world every day. His existence pours through me.
But really I’m finding it’s more like being a chef. I gather the ingredients from many sources: articles, interviews, and publications. Some are foundational Ingredients upon which to build the dish. Others are complementary ingredients that create its personality. Some are accents that bring the dish alive. And a few are garnishes just for fun and beauty.
Right now I am processing the ingredients, vetting them, removing the excess, and determining the best parts. Like a chef making a dish for the first time, as I combine them I don’t know what I’m doing — it’s all improvisation.
Working with all these ingredients is whetting my appetite for writing. Never thought I’d say I’m ready to stop researching. First up will be Origins of a Legend, about his childhood, courtship and marriage, and early family life. Also his first career as an attorney fighting loan-shark operations. Man, he was a hot shot! An entire section of federal case law is built on his work alone—something few lawyers can claim.
Then his early eco-activism, starting with his astounding legal work with the Texas Ornithological Society saving golden eagles and Harris hawks. Includes the story of the fight to save golden-cheeked warbler habitat by preventing a scamster gold course at Meridian State Park. This will show how Ned Fritz environmentalist-lawyer—in all his lawsuit wielding, coalition building, public inspiring, media master, naturalist expert, glory—was formed. Very thrilled about digging into that one.
It’s an exciting project, one I believe in with all my heart and soul. Your donations to crowd-fund me to write this biography are gratefully accepted.
An absolutely adorable photo of the young Ned and Genie—so tanned from hiking—with Ned in his dress Hawaiian shirt (instead of his usual ragged t-shirt). And Ned in his lawyer garb with Genie in their Cochran Chapel backyard. Photos courtesy of the Fritz family and Edward C. Fritz Archives, DeGoyler Library, SMU.
