Tribute to Dorian Fisher Adams After a lengthy life promoting freedom and liberty, Dorian passed away peacefully in San Francisco on April 3. She was a wonderful friend and mentor to me and I learned a great deal from her. She will be sadly missed. While many may not have known Dorian, she was always at the side of her husband, Sir Antony Fisher, providing useful counsel. She understood the power of great ideas. Sir Antony, along with James North, founded PRI in 1979. Sir Antony also founded or helped establish many free market think tanks around the world, including Manhattan Institute, NCPA, IEA, Fraser Institute, Center for Independent Studies, and the umbrella group, Atlas Economic Research Foundation. While I met Sir Antony in 1974 when I was working at the Fraser Institute, I did not meet Dorian until 1983. She was attending the regional meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society in Vancouver which I had helped to organize. Following the MPS meeting, I organized one of the early Atlas workshops. I always remember admiring Dorian--she was free market, beautifully turned out, had a wonderful way about her yet let you know exactly what she thought, and never missed a session. At that time in 1983, the laptop computer was not yet invented but in spite of that, Dorian took very detailed notes of each speech given. Following the conference, she transcribed her handwriting and prepared a most comprehensive manual for fledgling think tanks to use. I was so very impressed. In 1991, I emigrated to San Francisco from Canada to take the reins at PRI. At the time, Dorian was living in Bermuda but we kept in touch by phone and letter. When Dorian returned to San Francisco early this decade, we got together often for lunch and dinner. She loved Chinese food and we would alternate from expensive Chinese cuisine at Tommy Toy's to the inexpensive Brandy Ho's. She was passionate about not wasting money. We always had conversations about the success and failures of the free market movement. As her health declined, I visited her regularly at the San Francisco Towers. We always had a lot of laughs covering many subjects. It was sad to see her mind decline but the twinkle in her eye and her sparkle never left her. Dorian was a freedom fighter with tremendous aplomb. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her and even those who did not. Sincerely, Sally C. Pipes
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For 28 years, the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) has championed freedom, opportunity, and individual responsibility through free-market policy solutions. PRI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization. For more information please visit our web site at http://www.pacificresearch.org/ |
