GE Retirees to hear about Fort Fisher Hermit Sept. 16

GE Retirees Association will meet at noon, Sept. 16, at the New Hanover County Senior Center, 2222 South College Rd. Lunch $7, open to GE retirees and spouses. Speaker will be Fred Pickler, photographer and author of the book “Life & Times of the Fort Fisher Hermit.” RSVP to 799-5284.

Pickler is a former soldier, law enforcement officer, actor in the movie Blue Velvet, who for the last 16 years has represented the interests of a German military equipment company selling anti-terrorist munitions. He was a long time close friend to the Fort Fisher Hermit, photographing him from 1962 to the time of his murder in 1972. Then a deputy with the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Department, Pickler was the chief evidence technician at the hermit’s death scene. All photographs in his book about the hermit were made by him, as well as many of the photographs in the documentary film The Fort Fisher Hermit: The Life and Death of Robert E. Harrill, currently showing on public television all over the US.

A key mission of the GE Retirees Association is to provide area non-profit organizations with volunteers. If your organization needs volunteers, contact Julian Bradberry, 910/799-4195.