In article >,
jamz > wrote:
>Yesterday on December 15th, our friend Debra Fritz passed away after a
>long and brave battle against cancer.

Debra?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

shit shit shit

>She was a great cook.

And a great woman!

>And she was one of them more remarkable people I've ever met in my
>life. She was a good friend. I will miss her. The angels are
>learning a thing or two today, I expect.
>
>Here is her recipe for Nanaimo bars, the first thing that brought her
>to my attention.

I feel somewhat cheated now - don't think I have had the bars . Will
try them at some time in the not too distant future.

*takes wee dram and settles self*

She was a Righteous Sister. Other people have mentioned the delicious
brisket so I will tell another Debra story, which should help explain why
Ms. Orange County Republican co-existed so well with Ms. Berkeley Liberal
and other assorted characters. She told me this the first time I met her,
which I think was at Janis' house for a SoCal cook-in in 1999.

Debra, as has been noted, worked for the Republican party. One day in the
late fall of 1998, her phone rang. Her boss, then-Speaker Newt Gingrich,
said "I want you to come to Washington for a meeting". Now it's a PITA to
get between Orange County and DC and a long flight in any case. But, when
your boss says jump ... So, she drops everything, slogs through the
pre-holiday traffic and bad weather, sits her butt on an airplane for God
knows how long, and presents herself in DC for the meeting.

Newt asked her what the "mood on the ground" was, especially in relation
to the Republican congress' series of actions against the then-President,
William Jefferson Clinton. "What do they think about impeachment?" Her
honest answer was "Everyone is sick of it, stop there, don't do anything
else.". Newt's response was a sickly smile and "Well, we're going to go
ahead with it anyway."

Debra's immediate response was "The next time you aren't going to listen
to anything I have to say, could you at least do it over the telephone?"

History will note that Debra was right about the country's mood and that
Newt shortly thereafter lost his speakership.

*another dram*

I will miss her. I extend my deepest sympathies to her family and to her
good friends (thank you, Jamie).

Rest eternal grant unto her, O Lord
And light perpetual shine upon her.
May her soul, and the souls of all the departed,
rest in peace.

Charlotte
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