John Palmer Fishwick

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

In 1965 I had to drive Mr. Fishwick and Robert Claytor from Portsmouth to Huntington in my own personal auto, so they could catch a plane after a meeting at PO.

I had just gotten a 1966 Pontiac GTO convertable, and Mr. Fishwick asked me what it was.  When I told him he said "I have a Porsche I drive to work."!!!   My worst career decision was not pulling over to the side and handing him the keys and letting him drive it to Huntington.

BTW - you should have seen Mr. Claytor getting into the back seat . . .

EdKing
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
  To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
  Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2005 11:24 AM
  Subject: John Palmer Fishwick


  Adm. Scheer:
  I didn't know that Mr. Fishwick has an office in the Franklin Road
  Building.  The Property Protection people are pretty particular
  about who they'll let in.  I tried getting in at the offices in Norfolk
  and was turned away, so I haven't tried Franklin Road.

  That he still has an office probably isn't out of line.  After all,  in
  retirement, Mr. Pevler had an office in the Hotel Roanoke -- and a
  full time steno.  The last time I saw JPF was at the dinner commem-
  orating the railroad's entry into Roanoke in 1853 (?).  He was the
  speaker.  I don't know how he's using his time these days.

  True, he and Blair lived in the penthouse at the hotel.  When 
  Palmer (his daughter) was married, there was a big reception on the
  hotel lawn.  I suspect that Hank Kinzell, Supt. of Roanoke Term.,
  had instructions not to send any smoke-belching Alcos past the
  passenger station.  Blair died and circa 1990 Mr. Fishwick married
  the former General Manager of the hotel.  Before that, I once
  ran into him in the supermarket, so apparently he did his own
  grocery shopping.   You know, of course, that his commute to work
  became a discussion item.  In the N&W Magazine, he'd introduced
  an answer the question segment know as "Green Board to the
  President".  After the blizzards of 1976, an employee wrote in wanting
  to know why, on snow days, the supervisory personnel got paid, but
  the union employees didn't.  Mr. Fishwick responded that every one
  should make an honest effort to report to work.  During inclement weather
  he walked to work.  That said, N&W coulda done a whole lot worse.
  Just look at NS's competitor.    To get to a "Skins" game,  CSX dead
  headed their business car train Jax-Richmond so the hierarchy didn't
  travel I-95 like John Q. Public.
                                                         Harry Bundy 


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