Stewart "Dirk" Fischer - California

California

Fischer arrived in Los Angeles in 1959. He spent the next six years struggling to work in the recording studios, doing mostly ghost writing for other composers and arrangers. Very little during this period had his name on it. He did some union contracting for strings and other people in the orchestras, including his brother's recording sessions, and did a lot of copy work, as well.

Having been separated from his first wife for some time, his present wife showed up at the Rams Restaurant, in Los Angeles, where Fischer was working. Fischer hired her in November 1965 and they were married September 5, 1966. They managed to pool their resources and open and operate a little coffee shop in Van Nuys for 14 years called the Owl Coffee Shop. The business enabled both Dirk and Roz to go to school — music credentials for Dirk and nursing school for Roz. After transferring credits earned on the GI bill from a college in Minnesota, Fischer earned credits from Cal State Los Angeles and Cal State Northridge to complete a California Teaching Credential.

A California Teaching Credential, is a certification given in lieu of a traditional diploma, to people with professional expertise and experience who also completed a rigorous number of accredited, collegiate hours for the purpose of teaching at a junior college. To earn this, candidates need strong recommendation letters, too. Three years with Army bands — alongside name musicians, formally trained musicians, and some incredible composers — was the finest music education an 18-year-old draftee could get in the 1943-1946 era. Because Fischer was a formidable writer at the time, the Army gave him all kinds of special considerations that extended well above his formal rank of PFC.