Byron Fish's Humorous Tales Captivated Generations Of Readers

Stuttering typewriters. Hyperkinetic Cub Scouts. Life on Mars.

No topic, it seemed, was beyond the purview of Byron Fish, former Seattle Times humor columnist and travel writer who died of cancer yesterday. He was 87.

Mr. Fish entertained generations of newspaper and magazine readers with droll tales of life in the Northwest and beyond.

His books with nature photographers Bob and Ira Spring, and his Times columns from 1946 to 1973 earned awards and widespread attention.

Copies of his oil painting, "Free at Last," of a naked man dashing gleefully into the sunset of retirement, have sold by the thousands since he created the image in 1946.

"He had a dry humor and was just funny all the time, even at home," said his son, Brett Fish of SeaTac.

What Mr. Fish really wanted to be was a football player. But, as he told it, his skinny frame fitted him to be a tackle dummy.

So he concentrated on his other love: writing.

By the time he finished high school in Ballard, Mr. Fish, born in California, won enough money in writing contests to buy a $40 portable typewriter.

He earned a journalism degree at the University of Washington, worked as a Boeing publications director, and pounded out stories.

The next 60 years he earned enough money writing on that portable - and on a Royal Standard - to rear a family, travel widely and fund a comfortable semi-retirement. He sold his writings to Family Circle magazine on a regular basis and was on call to write for many other publications, including Readers Digest, Esquire, Look and Life.

"He missed a deadline only once when he suffered a near-death reaction to hornet stings," said Laurie Fish, his wife from 1948 until their divorce in 1966.

Former Seattle Times editor Henry MacLeod remembers Mr. Fish helped seafood entrepreneur Ivar Haglund dream up "crazy publicity stunts" that have become local legend.

"By was just a whimsical man who wrote funny comments on everyday activities."

Mr. Fish also served as mayor of Normandy Park in the early 1960s.

"At home he was quiet and loving, a sweet man," said his wife of 29 years, Katherine Fish.

He never did buy an electric typewriter or computer. He said they were just too complicated.

Other survivors include his daughters Cathy Johnson of Normandy Park, Susan Sheldon, Vancouver, Wash., and Margaret Tompkins, Tukwila; his sons Troy Fish, Chehalis, and Corey Fish, Seattle; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. His first wife, Betty Fish, died in 1943.

A memorial reunion is pending. Remembrances may go to The Nature Conservancy, 217 Pine St., Suite 1100, Seattle, WA, 98101..