Only a few weeks ago at the ASTA congress in Las Vegas, Fran
Durbin, Travel Weekly's Washington bureau chief, received the
Society's travel writer award for her contributions to industry
journalism.
Although she had been quite ill for some time, Fran was
determined to be there with her husband, Ted Stark, to accept the
honor. She made the trip and gave a brief, gracious acceptance
speech, thanking travel agents who had helped her over the
years.
She was very proud of the award, and those of us who have worked
with her all these years were equally proud of her.
This past Sunday, Fran died.
I want to tell you about a few aspects of Fran Durbin's life,
the few I know best. First, there was her professionalism. I've
never worked with anyone who cared more about the quality of
everything she did.
If the devil is in the details, Fran vanquished the devil time
and time again, getting the details of complicated industry stories
right. Her knowledge of the industry was remarkable. No one knew
more about the intricacies of ARC or could explain them with
greater clarity.
Charlie Taylor, our longtime executive editor and onetime
Washington bureau chief, saw that ability in her in 1972 when she
applied for a job. She had worked overseas in the foreign service
with the responsibility of filing reports on delicate diplomatic
matters. Charlie said if she could do that, she was ready to tackle
the murky world of CAB dockets.
On occasion, when I traveled to Washington to attend a
conference with her, I watched the way she concentrated on every
word of what was being said, taking copious notes in the tiniest
handwriting I'd ever seen.
She would have given the best court reporter a pretty good run
for the money.
Fran also was the most generous of colleagues, unstintingly
sharing her knowledge with everyone. She always had time to
patiently explain what she had worked so hard to understand.
The other part of Fran's life that must be told is her courage.
She was ill for a long time, enduring one round after another of
surgeries and treatments that would have disabled a less determined
person, but she never stopped working.
Right to the end, working from her home, she filed story after
story with the same attention to detail that characterized her
28-year career with our publication.
Her extraordinary will to continue despite the odds always will
be an inspiration to those of us who worked with her.