Famous Amos Amy

Simply the Best

I only got to know this wonderfully passionate woman in the last few months of her life, when I worked with her the summer of 2008 at Fort Smith NHS in Fort Smith, AR. Amy was one of those people you could walk up to and meet for the first time and feel totally comfortable around. I think her disposition to people in general and her giving attitude granted her those special connections with the public.

She was decorated as a NPS interpreter, and it really showed. I witnessed her walking around outside in the blazing Arkansas heat many times, talking to visitors about the history of the park, defining its meaning to their lives. She didn't wait for people to come talk to her - she made herself available to help in any way she could.

She reached out. Reaching out to the 3,000+ kids back in Nebraska with her distance learning program earned her formal recognition as a NPS interpreter in 2003 with the Freeman Tilden award. She was planning on initiating the same type of program at Fort Smith. I felt so honored to have her there. It's kind of silly, but she seemed like a famous person in the park service to me. Interestingly enough, her nickname this summer within our little circle of friends at the park was Famous Amos Amy!

It was a privilege to work beside such a valued employee in the park service. I worked in the maintenance department at Fort Smith NHS, but I was still very much connected in the daily operations of the interpretive department at the site, due to the park's intimate setting and small size. So, over the summer I feel like I made some very special relationships between my coworkers, and with Amy. Fort Smith was a place all new to me, coming from mid-Missouri, but it also felt like home. Amy was one of the people that helped create that atmosphere.

I will always hold a special place in my heart for Amy and for the time I had at Fort Smith with her. She made that park light up with her talents and I know it will keep glowing with the love she left there.

I miss her very much.

-Cari Gerlt