From: Fiddlersgreen.net <info@fiddlersgreen.net>
Sent: Sunday, September 2, 2012 11:48 PM
Subject: Chip Fyn, FG and me
Dear Friends and fans of Chip Fyn,
I want to thank you all for your warm consolation. As many of you already know, my father passed away recently, and very peacefully, in a beautiful spot in the woods near Flagstaff Arizona. He was in the place he loved, doing what he loved, working on Fiddlers Green.
Some of his ashes will be sprinkled in the garden at the family home where his mother and father were likewise sprinkled. The rest will be treasured by dear, sweet Annie, the finest woman a man could ever know.
In their many years together they travelled everywhere, across the country and beyond in the Fiddler's Green RV, along with their little Westies and an occasional traveller or two, in perfect freedom, celebrating life and everything in it.
My father believed in hard work and dedication, and he worked harder than any man I have ever known, but he also believed that you don't need to sacrifice your freedom for your job as long as you love your work. Fiddlers Green is proof of that and it is a testament to what a man can offer the world, and to what the world can offer in return.
He got everything he wanted from life with pure blind persistence and I could tell by his smile over the past few years that he had achieved what he defined as success. It wasn't millions of dollars or power over others. Neither was it a wild life of excess and waste. It was the strength with others to get by on only what you need for now so that you can build what you imagine and leave behind a world that is better for you having been a part of it. This, I assure you, he did.
He would have lived forever, if he could, for just one purpose, and he would have been satisfied forever bringing Fiddlers Green to you, his model'n pals, those who have supported him, encouraged him, laughed and cried with him, lived and died with him, ever since I was just a boy. But sadly, he knew his time had outlasted his luck.
He knew I would be writing this today. He even hinted to me one late evening in 'The Beaver' RV after a long day of sharing ideas and working on the website, the most enjoyable work a father and son could hope to share, that "it would be nice" if a person could be "not just lost" after he passes, and that some part of him would continue to live on.
He told many people that he wanted me to pick up the reigns and ride that horse the next few laps for him. But when he leaned back in his big captain's chair and yawned, and then looked over at me with fatherly pride in his eyes, I think he knew that I would take a crack at it.
The past few days have been among the hardest of my life, but the memories have been among the best. The days ahead will be a challenge as I try to work through what needs to be done to keep Fiddlers Green alive and strong, to keep it changing and growing, and (if Daddy don't mind) maybe even a little better.
Memorial services will be held online. If you have a picture or a story about Chip that you want to share with the model'n world then feel free to submit it with "Memorial" as the first word in your email. I will use as many as I can. If you just want to make a donation, you can use Paypal to send any amount to azsculpture@yahoo.com
It's YOU who makes Fiddlers Green what it is. I can only steer the ship in my Daddy's big captain's chair if you keep cutting and folding and doing what you love the way you were always meant to do it.
To all those who are having trouble downloading the new models you ordered, please bear with me while I try to sort all this out. I just got the administrators account today for FG and it will take some time to make sure everyone gets what they ordered. I'm going through hundreds of emails and there is a lot on my plate right now with everything that I have had to do to make arrangements for my Dad.
p.s. He always used to say he wanted a big brass band to play when he dies, so if anyone has one of those I will try to work it in.
Sincerely Yours, Scott Fyn.
