Dennis Fishwick was a cab driver and a dispatcher at the Marin County Cab Company where I also work. I wish I had taken a good portrait of him. In my photo you would have seen a man with a mischievous, and delightful smile with his eyes full of laughing sparkle. Dennis always had a smile, he was always in on the greater cosmic mystery .. why worry. Of course Dennis was human and that was just the side that I saw usually only once or twice a week when our schedules coincided.
He was a short, rather round man with that grey hair that comes along with living long enough. He often came to work with his nutty paranoid Scotch Terrier named Raymond who was the antithesis of Dennis, ready to defend Dennis at the drop of a hat. Actually if you were wearing a hat you were really in trouble. Raymond didn't like hats. Dennis would laugh at everything.
What separated Dennis from almost all human beings that I have met in my 35 years of living in Marin County was will and confidence and courage to address our community and stand up against the 'powers that be' that we in California
face daily.
Dennis ran for public office more than twice. I don't know the full story. But he was an elected member of the Novato City Council at the time of the impending sale of Hamilton Air Force Base to private developers. I know he opposed much of that development for a variety of sound reasons. He ran for office again just in the last year and lost a race to serve on the Novato Sanitary District being motivated by the City's plan to outsource the running of the public Sanitation district to a private firm.
I don't know how Dennis could maintain his persistent, confident and good spirited engagement with this realm we call our government on behalf of the well-being of our community and the protection of our natural environment.
Dennis's contribution to the preservation of Marin County's quality of life stands like a golden flame. Yes I am being free with my compliments here. I hope the other towns of Marin besides Novato are as fortunate to have a citizen as dedicated as Dennis was to public service. Natural courage and knowledge that his life mattered was as intrinsic as the friendliness of his spirit. A lot of people who were your good friends here at this cab company and in your surrounding world aren't going to forget you. Your warm spirit lives with us even now.
Next time take it easy with the cheeseburgers. : )
I know I let myself get annoyed with your dispatching sometimes, I know you know, and I know we new.. that that was nothing compared to sharing a smile.
Thank You Dennis,
Guy #9
From Thank You to Marin Counties largest and only daily
Newspaper the Marin Independent Journal and journalist Rob Rogers for this tribute.
September 2, 2010
Section: Marin
Novato
News
Former Novato Councilman Dennis Fishwick dies at 64
Rob Rogers
Friends and colleagues this week mourned the death of former Novato Councilman Dennis Fishwick, a longtime Novato civic activist who died Tuesday after suffering an apparent heart attack, according to a close friend. He was 64. "He was kind of a gadfly, but he really did love Novato and cared for its quality of life," said former councilwoman Gail Wilhelm. "He was an environmentalist. He did his homework, and he frequently caught public officials making mistakes. On occasion, he would take the city to court, though he didn't win. He was an interesting fellow and politically active to the end."
Mr. Fishwick, who served on the Novato council from 1991 to 1995 and later ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Novato Sanitary District board, suffered a heart attack Tuesday after driving a limousine to a Bay Area airport, said close friend Lydia Haggerty. A spokeswoman for the Marin County Coroner's Office confirmed that Mr. Fishwick had died, but declined to provide details, saying the death had occurred in another county.
Although Mr. Fishwick had worked as a dispatcher and sometime driver for Bel Aire Cab of San Rafael, he was not driving for the company on Tuesday, operations manager Robert DeWalt said.
"He was a good guy and a nice guy," said DeWalt, who said Mr. Fishwick had worked for the company since December 2003. "People liked him here."
Born in Chicago, Mr. Fishwick attended the University of Illinois there, graduating in 1970. He moved to Novato in 1974.
Mr. Fishwick served as a member of the city's Parks and Recreation Commission and the Measures F & G Committee, helping to draft the bond that later built the city's Margaret Todd Senior Center. He also participated in the Save Scottsdale Marsh Committee and helped form the Novato Adult Soccer League.
Mr. Fishwick's career was characterized by support for youth sports, opposition to large-scale development and lengthy battles with politicians or proposals he opposed. In 1989, he led an effort to recall Novato City Council members Bill Cope, Christine Knight and Hugh Turner, but failed to gather enough signatures to support the recall.
Mr. Fishwick continued his advocacy efforts as a member of the Novato City Council. During his tenure, the council partnered with the county of Marin and the state Department of Fish and Game to purchase 31 acres of marshland around Novato's Scottsdale Pond, a measure Mr. Fishwick had long advocated.
"Dennis was a real character, someone you could never forget," said former Marin County supervisor Cynthia Murray, who served with Mr. Fishwick on the Novato council. "He liked to think of himself as a man of the people, and he was very interested in issues concerning the environment, labor and quality of life. He had a big role in saving Scottsdale Marsh, even before he came to the council."
Mr. Fishwick contested the November 2008 election that favored the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District project, arguing its results should not stand because while two-thirds of overall voters supported the train, two-thirds of Marin County voters did not.
In 2009, Mr. Fishwick ran for one of three seats on the Novato Sanitary District board, protesting what he called the "gross mismanagement of the current directors." He came in sixth, earning 12 percent of the vote. After losing the election, Mr. Fishwick spearheaded a lawsuit against one of his opponents and the Marin County registrar of voters, claiming that a number of voters living outside the Novato city limits had been unable to participate in the election.
"He was an amazing person with the energy to work on many, many issues," said San Rafael attorney Dotty LeMieux, who worked with Mr. Fishwick on his suit against the county. "He didn't shy away from a fight if he thought it was necessary, and he deserves a lot of credit for taking on issues other people didn't, and bringing them to the attention of people who could do something about it."
The Novato City Council plans to adjourn its Sept. 14 meeting in Mr. Fishwick's memory, Mayor Jeanne MacLeamy said Thursday. Funeral details are pending.
Read more Novato stories at the IJ's Novato section.
Contact Rob Rogers via e-mail at rrogers@marinij.com
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Try Talking
Phew!!!
You know you have one good day and the next you are back in fall apart mode.
I'm allright just been lying in bed trying too sleep for the last few hours. This should be prime time for me to be in dreamland,
but no. My plans of being in the city - for photography, music and a visit to the SF Library may still materialize.
Maybe rather than think how I can offer to throw a log off the soul of a woman I sort of fancy, after almost a year of knowing her
and fruitless desire mixed with ....
Or think about Obama and the emptiness vacuosness of Political Leadership in the Democratic and Republican fold. Or think about the Tea Party. Oh I see they threw you out of the Tea Party said a cab driver friend who reads my babble here. God Bless you all.. one or two of you at least. No Kev, they didn't throw me out of the Tea Party just because I had to delete and email exchange I had with local leadership of the Tea Party who didn't understand that I am trying to make a public dialogue of the direction of the Tea Party. God Bless the Tea Party again whether I agree with everything that all those who feel apart of some Rebellious urge that is overtaking this country or not. Thank You God so be it Ride this wave too.
Of course the Republicans are Hell Bent on sucking in the people of The Tea Party and the Media wants that as well marginalizing it still as the 'conservative' response to such leaders as Rush Limbaugh, Michael W. 'Savage' or Glenn Beck people who I don't listen to and wouldn't recognize n the street. Rush I would recognize.
In the meantime apparently we have something called a Federal Deficit Reduction Act... good work gentleman and ladies and then you have the next round of Federal Stimulus coming at us another $50 Billion here or there. The sick War in Afghanistan..
'but Guy... we must defeat Evil' . Defeat yourself. That's what we are doing.
OK am I ready to go to sleep now.. have I got something off my chest. Barely. No. Not enough.
Talk about the real world, Guy. I don't know I see a lot of deer running around on the streets of Marin at night. A lot of nutty humans. I saw a coyote on a street in Mill Valley at 2 AM (no not the 2AM Club) it watched me from the side of the road I stopped the cab and he stayed there looking at me about 10 feet away, yes what do you want he said to me and ambled off after about 10 seconds, I hadn't seen that relaxed a coyote before. I have seen plenty of Foxes usually they are quick to disappear. A fellow cab driver described the scene as he was leaving work about the usual time of 3 AM and as he came off the
exit curve from 101 to SFD westbound before the Bon Air Shellhe said he saw an Owl in the middle of the road with fresh kill
as he drove past slowly in his flashy black Accura he said the Owl would not budge from it's spot in the road and he drove away. I checked out the kill a few days later after seeing the carcass lying in the road. About 2AM I slowed my cab to a just about a dead stop , a fairly reckless move and opened the door as I passed by the 3 or four day old lump of animal that was..
to take a good look. It was what I thought - a bunch of beautiful big feathers still attached. That was not the Owls kill that was in all likelihood a fellow Owl probably it's mate. What do you know humans? Does the pompous arrogant blindness of being a Human reduce us to being a lesser species of Life on the Planet Earth. As Walruses seek land now that there is no Ice.
You still want to send your teenager to High School how many miles away because the one next to you isn't good enough. YOu still drive insane commutes wasting your lives way in traffic jams and cars. You still think it's OK to Jet Set around the PLanet
burning it up on a daily basis. Just slow it down some as Odell said. Slow it down some. I am not responsible that is what we have a government for you say. Slow it down some. Get your bicycle working. Trains are great. Leave your car in the parking lot two days a week. It's in our hands.
You know you have one good day and the next you are back in fall apart mode.
I'm allright just been lying in bed trying too sleep for the last few hours. This should be prime time for me to be in dreamland,
but no. My plans of being in the city - for photography, music and a visit to the SF Library may still materialize.
Maybe rather than think how I can offer to throw a log off the soul of a woman I sort of fancy, after almost a year of knowing her
and fruitless desire mixed with ....
Or think about Obama and the emptiness vacuosness of Political Leadership in the Democratic and Republican fold. Or think about the Tea Party. Oh I see they threw you out of the Tea Party said a cab driver friend who reads my babble here. God Bless you all.. one or two of you at least. No Kev, they didn't throw me out of the Tea Party just because I had to delete and email exchange I had with local leadership of the Tea Party who didn't understand that I am trying to make a public dialogue of the direction of the Tea Party. God Bless the Tea Party again whether I agree with everything that all those who feel apart of some Rebellious urge that is overtaking this country or not. Thank You God so be it Ride this wave too.
Of course the Republicans are Hell Bent on sucking in the people of The Tea Party and the Media wants that as well marginalizing it still as the 'conservative' response to such leaders as Rush Limbaugh, Michael W. 'Savage' or Glenn Beck people who I don't listen to and wouldn't recognize n the street. Rush I would recognize.
In the meantime apparently we have something called a Federal Deficit Reduction Act... good work gentleman and ladies and then you have the next round of Federal Stimulus coming at us another $50 Billion here or there. The sick War in Afghanistan..
'but Guy... we must defeat Evil' . Defeat yourself. That's what we are doing.
OK am I ready to go to sleep now.. have I got something off my chest. Barely. No. Not enough.
Talk about the real world, Guy. I don't know I see a lot of deer running around on the streets of Marin at night. A lot of nutty humans. I saw a coyote on a street in Mill Valley at 2 AM (no not the 2AM Club) it watched me from the side of the road I stopped the cab and he stayed there looking at me about 10 feet away, yes what do you want he said to me and ambled off after about 10 seconds, I hadn't seen that relaxed a coyote before. I have seen plenty of Foxes usually they are quick to disappear. A fellow cab driver described the scene as he was leaving work about the usual time of 3 AM and as he came off the
exit curve from 101 to SFD westbound before the Bon Air Shellhe said he saw an Owl in the middle of the road with fresh kill
as he drove past slowly in his flashy black Accura he said the Owl would not budge from it's spot in the road and he drove away. I checked out the kill a few days later after seeing the carcass lying in the road. About 2AM I slowed my cab to a just about a dead stop , a fairly reckless move and opened the door as I passed by the 3 or four day old lump of animal that was..
to take a good look. It was what I thought - a bunch of beautiful big feathers still attached. That was not the Owls kill that was in all likelihood a fellow Owl probably it's mate. What do you know humans? Does the pompous arrogant blindness of being a Human reduce us to being a lesser species of Life on the Planet Earth. As Walruses seek land now that there is no Ice.
You still want to send your teenager to High School how many miles away because the one next to you isn't good enough. YOu still drive insane commutes wasting your lives way in traffic jams and cars. You still think it's OK to Jet Set around the PLanet
burning it up on a daily basis. Just slow it down some as Odell said. Slow it down some. I am not responsible that is what we have a government for you say. Slow it down some. Get your bicycle working. Trains are great. Leave your car in the parking lot two days a week. It's in our hands.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Circulation of Money
The Circulation of Money in an economy is a natural form of survival. The Government's misguided attempts
at stimulating 'the economy' continue and threaten a major collapse of the government in general.
So be it... I guess. Maybe the Government is beyond redempion.
A collapse of the government would not be a collapse of the People.
The circulation of money keeps us connected and basically in survival mode. Survival mode does not mean one has to live in a
an anxiety state but rather means in a heightened awareness of who I feed when I send money in some direction.
Every Community, across the Planet would do well to keep survival mode their daily life. Support the most independent, local elements of your world.
at stimulating 'the economy' continue and threaten a major collapse of the government in general.
So be it... I guess. Maybe the Government is beyond redempion.
A collapse of the government would not be a collapse of the People.
The circulation of money keeps us connected and basically in survival mode. Survival mode does not mean one has to live in a
an anxiety state but rather means in a heightened awareness of who I feed when I send money in some direction.
Every Community, across the Planet would do well to keep survival mode their daily life. Support the most independent, local elements of your world.
Friday, September 3, 2010
'out of the alley'
Hah Hah.... said Tomas,. "Guy's out of the alley!'
Well it did have a nice ring to it, That idea. Simply because I walked out of the back alley with a lit joint
looking for anyone t share it with me on Broadway in Fairfax. Quit hiding out. Tomas took me up on the proposal
the best things in Life are usually the moments that are shared.
Great night of music at the Sleeping Lady with the great Rusty Evans and his son Danny on guitar and Carrick on Bass.
'High energy night' as Biambu, the bartender told Rusty after the show. As if Rusty didn't know that. Another night in the land of 'What It Is!'
That's it in The Right Ear and out The Other. I'll figure out the Federal Reserve another day.
Well it did have a nice ring to it, That idea. Simply because I walked out of the back alley with a lit joint
looking for anyone t share it with me on Broadway in Fairfax. Quit hiding out. Tomas took me up on the proposal
the best things in Life are usually the moments that are shared.
Great night of music at the Sleeping Lady with the great Rusty Evans and his son Danny on guitar and Carrick on Bass.
'High energy night' as Biambu, the bartender told Rusty after the show. As if Rusty didn't know that. Another night in the land of 'What It Is!'
That's it in The Right Ear and out The Other. I'll figure out the Federal Reserve another day.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Honesty Till It Hurts...
I don't know maybe you and I are not ready for that much.
I wish to be an intelligent voice speaking for the alternate vision, what might be said to be the Peaceful Revolution
what some might have wanted to call a Green Revolution that many of us in our younger days believed possible.
Remember Charles Reich's Book 'The Greening of America'. It all seemed possible.
I get in my own way and maybe the world's when I take myself to seriously... which is most of the time.
So last night I made a mistake and drank the Blue Ocean. It got me nowhere but Now Here and maybe that was all in all OK?...
I had a miserable night's sleep and thought I could just hide all day.
The Vodka drink didn't work well with the Xanax for some reason. Mainly because of me being a sufferer from 'Tiny Tim Syndrome' absent Miss Vikki. Here's my mental state.. ..........
OK Let's put it this way. My mental state is Verb like in Nature as opposed to being a Noun. If I tell you it's this then...
Words ...it's a battle ... This month began my 4 or 5 month entrance into Xanax an anti depressant use that it seemed I needed because of my inability to sleep. I can't turn back the clock and make myself younger. My Heart has been weird, hurting for some time and I tore down my body over the past few years with insomnia as a way of Life. This whole entry into modern medical pharmacology instead of dealing with deeper emotional issues years ago is not to be recommended. I am trying to deal with everything and mainly make myself a responsible and capable human being who can shed whatever levels of shame or regret I may have for past or current failings. Is this too honest? Not really, but I am not going to continue to spill my guts to you and all the internet and Planet. Humans take care of yourselves. I know it seems a tough task for some of us.
I am trying to get down to eliminating Xanax completely from my life by October. I am going against the Doctors wishes in eliminating Prozac first from my life. I know that many people have found this a very helpful aid to Mental Health and dealing with life and there is no shame in doing what one has to do to stay afloat in this world. Maybe I will never get away from any of this stuff. I don't know. Is there a place left for a couple of hits of weed and a great IPA? I hope so sometimes I think I need to go even further in embracing a boring lifestyle. Rock and Roll and Music in general and this insane mess this planet has become will keep me from ever getting too bored. Meantime I will try to get over myself, out from myself, out from under and
be a Human who is willing to lend a hand or try to Muster up the courage to speak out about what i see going down like I have absolutely nothing to fear on this Planet. I'll try. Don't get your hopes up too high in my regards. Life isn't a spectator sport.
Cmon you Punk! I say to myself. (semi-affectionately)
I wish to be an intelligent voice speaking for the alternate vision, what might be said to be the Peaceful Revolution
what some might have wanted to call a Green Revolution that many of us in our younger days believed possible.
Remember Charles Reich's Book 'The Greening of America'. It all seemed possible.
I get in my own way and maybe the world's when I take myself to seriously... which is most of the time.
So last night I made a mistake and drank the Blue Ocean. It got me nowhere but Now Here and maybe that was all in all OK?...
I had a miserable night's sleep and thought I could just hide all day.
The Vodka drink didn't work well with the Xanax for some reason. Mainly because of me being a sufferer from 'Tiny Tim Syndrome' absent Miss Vikki. Here's my mental state.. ..........
OK Let's put it this way. My mental state is Verb like in Nature as opposed to being a Noun. If I tell you it's this then...
Words ...it's a battle ... This month began my 4 or 5 month entrance into Xanax an anti depressant use that it seemed I needed because of my inability to sleep. I can't turn back the clock and make myself younger. My Heart has been weird, hurting for some time and I tore down my body over the past few years with insomnia as a way of Life. This whole entry into modern medical pharmacology instead of dealing with deeper emotional issues years ago is not to be recommended. I am trying to deal with everything and mainly make myself a responsible and capable human being who can shed whatever levels of shame or regret I may have for past or current failings. Is this too honest? Not really, but I am not going to continue to spill my guts to you and all the internet and Planet. Humans take care of yourselves. I know it seems a tough task for some of us.
I am trying to get down to eliminating Xanax completely from my life by October. I am going against the Doctors wishes in eliminating Prozac first from my life. I know that many people have found this a very helpful aid to Mental Health and dealing with life and there is no shame in doing what one has to do to stay afloat in this world. Maybe I will never get away from any of this stuff. I don't know. Is there a place left for a couple of hits of weed and a great IPA? I hope so sometimes I think I need to go even further in embracing a boring lifestyle. Rock and Roll and Music in general and this insane mess this planet has become will keep me from ever getting too bored. Meantime I will try to get over myself, out from myself, out from under and
be a Human who is willing to lend a hand or try to Muster up the courage to speak out about what i see going down like I have absolutely nothing to fear on this Planet. I'll try. Don't get your hopes up too high in my regards. Life isn't a spectator sport.
Cmon you Punk! I say to myself. (semi-affectionately)
The Blue Ocean
The drink of the night prepared by the young bartender.. What's it called?
' I think I'll call it The Blue Ocean.' she said.
Vodka and this and that and something called Blue Curacao.
In preparing the drink she dropped a glass and it broke...
I took that personally.... why me God? She has probably never dropped a glass in her short bartending career. (She's young)
I thought of changing my mind. Maybe that was a sign maybe I don't need this drink nor need to be here.
I didn't change my mind I Let it Be... so she answered my question and called it the Blue Ocean. It was pretty good though
It needed something maybe real blueberries or a sprig of mint from Maine. That was the scene beneath the Wilkins Hotel
with the DJ playing some Hip Hop and colored lights dancing and the young crowd of whom I knew no one.
Not my scene.
I had planned on making it to Fairfax to hear the Tuesday Night Uzilevsky Korty Session of which there is nothing in the Marin
Music scene comparable. Mill Valley doesn't have a scene it has a few venues off and on.
Fairfax has a scene. I didn't make it. It would have been a bicycle ride round trip.
I canceled my big plans to make it back East on the 18th. The signs were self evident.
My friend from Windfall Farms said with what seemed finality 'California has claimed you.'
Energy sustainability. Streamline my life.
' I think I'll call it The Blue Ocean.' she said.
Vodka and this and that and something called Blue Curacao.
In preparing the drink she dropped a glass and it broke...
I took that personally.... why me God? She has probably never dropped a glass in her short bartending career. (She's young)
I thought of changing my mind. Maybe that was a sign maybe I don't need this drink nor need to be here.
I didn't change my mind I Let it Be... so she answered my question and called it the Blue Ocean. It was pretty good though
It needed something maybe real blueberries or a sprig of mint from Maine. That was the scene beneath the Wilkins Hotel
with the DJ playing some Hip Hop and colored lights dancing and the young crowd of whom I knew no one.
Not my scene.
I had planned on making it to Fairfax to hear the Tuesday Night Uzilevsky Korty Session of which there is nothing in the Marin
Music scene comparable. Mill Valley doesn't have a scene it has a few venues off and on.
Fairfax has a scene. I didn't make it. It would have been a bicycle ride round trip.
I canceled my big plans to make it back East on the 18th. The signs were self evident.
My friend from Windfall Farms said with what seemed finality 'California has claimed you.'
Energy sustainability. Streamline my life.
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