From Mike Stevens:
I’m saddened to report the passing of my long time friend, Jim Fischer, from Parkinson’s disease, on January 19, 2019. Jim was the co-founder, along with Mike Howlett, of the Utah Scrabble® Club in 1982. The club is still active and vibrant, largely due to the efforts of Jim. He wrote his weekly club newsletter, After Words, up until a few months before his passing. Jim was the first person I met when I walked into Utah Scrabble® Club #173, in December 1988. We went on many Scrabble® trips together, several Nationals and many other tournaments. Some of these were in the Scrabblemobile, my Suburban, which had an improvised table custom made for the back seat. Kent Nelson, Mike Howlett, Jim and I would drive to tournaments in Reno, Tamarron (Durango), and Las Vegas. We rotated seats every time a game was finished so we could play two games out of every four. It made the time fly and the long drives seemed short and full of laughs.
Jim was a former chess champion, having represented the United States Air Force. He fell in love with the game of Scrabble® and it became a life long love of his. He was instrumental in furthering the game in Utah and met many friends in the nearly 150 tournaments he played in. I will miss his gentle spirit, kindness and his subtle sense of humor.