By Nancy Leighton
After spending more than half her life spent in the United States, Carol Fisk has returned to England and her family’s home in North London. On October 18, as the last really hot days of summer were coming to a close, Carol packed up the last of her things; and with her two feline companions, Lilybet and Alfred, she headed to Hartsfield-Jackson airport to catch a non-stop flight home to London for good
Fisk is a well-known personality in this community. She worked for Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB), was a member of the Grant Park Neighborhood Association (GPNA), a founding member of the Grant Park Conservancy (GPC), worked on the Grant Park Historic District legislation, was a founder and longtime president of the Grant Park Security Patrol (GPSP), and a regular contributor of articles to The Porch Press. She also participated in many other volunteer activities in the neighborhood, such as the Grant Park Tour of Homes and Oakland Cemetery.
Carol Fisk grew up in North London. She received her higher education at the University of Bristol earning a B.S. in sociology and psychology, and a Certificate of Education from Oxford University. After college in 1972 she had no particular career goals but decided to take a temporary job as a secretary for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). What was to be a temporary job became permanent after a year. She came to love working in television. She received extensive training and worked on programs in the arts, science documentaries, educational, and regional productions.
Fisk came to the United States in 1978 when she applied for a job and was selected to be the news assistant for the BBC’s Washington D.C. bureau. She spent five years covering North America, South America, and the Caribbean for the BBC television and radio news divisions. In 1982 she was recruited to become the American Correspondent and Bureau Chief in New York for a new British morning TV show called Good Morning, Britain. The show was broadcast to a British audience. For a year after that, she did freelance corporate and network news in New York and Atlanta.
With all her experience in broadcasting production, Fisk landed a job with Georgia Public Broadcasting in 1985. Carol Fisk’s name appears in the credits of many programs created at Georgia Public Television over the years. She immersed herself in the history and culture of Atlanta, Georgia, and the south. One series she worked on during her years at GPB was the popular documentary series Georgia Legacy. Some of the programs in that series were: The Fabulous Fox, Peachtree Street: Take Another Look, Georgia’s Civil War, Georgia’s Backroads, and More Georgia Backroads. She did the popular Okefenokee Joe programs, The Joy of Snakes, and Swampwise, and the series The Coastal Naturalist. As producer on many of these programs, she would develop the concept, collect the resources, do the research, write the script, supervise the filming and the film editing, and help select the narrator.
Carol Fisk received many awards for her work. Some programs Fisk worked on have been distributed nationally within the Public Broadcasting System. Programs she produced have been broadcast several times a year since they were created. No doubt they will be shown again in the future, because of the timeless nature and treatment of the topics.
When she first moved to Atlanta, she lived in Sandy Springs for several years, then moved to Druid Hills. Later, when she decided to buy a home, she looked for a dynamic, up-and-coming neighborhood that was working to improve itself, a neighborhood where she could pitch in and make a contribution with her talents. She found that neighborhood, and bought a home across the street from Grant Park.
She joined GPNA. Like all our neighborhood associations, GPNA needed volunteers to head various committees. The Parks Committee needed a chairman, so Fisk volunteered for that. This brought her into contact with Phil and Jennifer Cuthbertson and others who were concerned about the condition of the park and were interested in preserving and improving it. They decided to create the Grant Park Conservancy, modeled on the Piedmont Park Conservancy and other similar organizations.
After moving here, it didn’t take Fisk long to realize that crime was a persistent problem in the area. The Grant Park Security Patrol had been created a few years earlier and was looking for a new president, so she volunteered for the job and was president until a few months ago.
Later Fisk worked on the Grant Park Historic District Designation Ordinance. Getting everything ready for the historic district designation took several years. The committee had to study other historic districts in Atlanta and other cities. Next, working with the Atlanta Urban Design Commission, they had to decide what criteria they would use in Grant Park. They had to survey the neighborhood to determine which buildings would fit the criteria. They had to write up what the rules would be. After that there were numerous meetings with small groups, neighborhood associations, and the Neighborhood Planning Unit, to get some kind of consensus. Finally, it went before the City Council and the Mayor signed it.
She retired from GPB in 2009. Like many people retiring, she took time to consider her options and desires for the way she wanted to spend her retirement. Her mother, still in England, was approaching 90 years old. Even though her mother was then and still is in good health, she realized it could be both inconvenient and difficult to attend to any of her mother’s needs from thousands of miles and across an ocean away. After much consideration Fisk decided the best thing to do was to move back to England, permanently.
She began to make plans to move. She went through her belongings, deciding which things to discard, which things to give away, recycle, sell; and which things she wanted to keep and ship to London. She shipped personal and family mementos. The biggest thing she shipped was a family grandfather clock that her mother had shipped to her here years ago. She put her house up on the market. With the tough housing market, her house had a For Sale sign on it for almost a year. Fisk was about to give up when she received a valid offer. She had made arrangements with a company that specializes in selling off the contents of people’s homes. Once the closing date was set, Fisk called them in and everything was sold. In the meantime, so she could finish up all the last minute details, Fisk made arrangements to take a three-month lease on a small furnished apartment in the biggest and newest apartment building in southeast Atlanta, the Enso Building along Bill Kennedy Way at Glenwood Avenue.
Once Fisk settles down in London, she has many plans. She intends to make an adventure of exploring London to see what remains from when she was young, what has changed, and what is new. She has learned that all London citizens over the age of 60 can get a transit pass at no charge. She plans to take full advantage of it and travel extensively throughout the city. Later, when she gets some time, she hopes to take trips to other parts of Europe and the rest of the world.
Carol Fisk’s talent and involvement will be missed in this community. Best wishes to her in all her new adventures in life.
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