Jane Fishman May 1, 1944 – Oct. 16, 2022

Former Eurekan Jane Fishman peacefully departed this world in her Savannah, Ga., home on the morning of October 16, surrounded by family and friends. She was 78.

Reared in Michigan, Jane moved to Chicago to work as a teacher, a profession she soon decided was not for her. It was 1976 when she stumbled upon a classified ad in a women’s magazine advertising for a manager of a lesbian-owned hotel in Eureka Springs, Ark.

Jane, always up for an adventure, bit, and for the next eight years Eureka was her home. The hotel sold, and Jane became an entrepreneur, operating the Downtown Laundry with her then-partner Rae, and the Pita Hut, a vegetarian restaurant, with friend Billy.

Work dried up in the winter back then, so Jane went off on more adventures: road managing a musician’s tour; cooking in Chicago; a stint in New Orleans. At the end of ‘84 she caravaned with a group of locals to Key West for the winter, and that became her home for the next few years, where she worked in several restaurant kitchens. By her mid-40s Jane was finished with kitchens and went back to school to study journalism.

Her job search took her to Savannah, where she landed a reporter job at the city’s Morning News, and from then on Jane was never without her tiny spiral notebook, seeking out interesting people, asking lots of questions, and noting ideas. A columnist in the city for nearly 30 years, Jane got around, and everyone seemed to know her, and her brilliant, quirky writing.  

Quirky would also describe Jane’s gardening style, which she described in her book, I Grew It My Way, How Not to Garden. She was passionate about gardening, and her gardens were works of art, in an extremely informal way. Her guerrilla garden on an abandoned lot next to a highway overpass was her pièce de résistance, a found-object assemblage with plants, that she welcomed anyone to add to. The bi-annual plant swaps she organized became a Savannah tradition. As did her Chanukah parties.

In her 60s she took a sabbatical from the paper and went back to school again, in Pittsburgh, to study writing.

Jane’s other writing credits include: The Dirt On Jane, a memoir of sorts also available as an audiobook in her own voice; So What’s The Hurry, in which she humorously documents her extensive train travel; The Woman Who Saved an Island, the Story of Sandy West and Ossabaw Island; and two compilations of her newspaper columns, Everyone’s Gotta Be Somewhere and I’d Rather Be Seen Than Viewed.

Jane always had four legged companions, most were of the long-body, short legged sort. Sweetie and Cocoa were with her at the end.

Also, there was Carmela, her loving wife and devoted partner of many years. Jane was Bebe to young Baker and Benny, who always brought her great joy. She valiantly battled cancer, an experience she shared with her readers, and continued to live life fully until disabled by a stroke in July. Even then, though, she maintained her wry sense of humor and continued working on her next book, titled l Ain’t Dead Yet.

She was a great friend to scores, all of whom marveled at her adventurous, fun loving and creative spirit. Jane’s was a life well lived. She will be greatly missed and fondly remembered.