"Normally I would open the door and he'd be waiting," said The Fritz owner-operator last week-end. "Now you open the door and he's nowhere to be found. It feels very strange."

Not only has the news of Fritz's passing left a sense of emptiness among those who cared for him, but many island residents are wondering if life will ever be the same at Central Hall.

"He was so much to so many people," Levy said. "The response has been incredible. Some people just enjoyed seeing him on their way to and from work."

Just before 6 p.m. on Wednesday, February 21, Fritz, aged 11, wandered into the path of an on-coming vehicle in front of the theatre. Reasons for the incident remain unclear, although some accounts report Fritz was "spooked" off the Central Hall steps. Fritz was dead by the time he arrived at veterinarian Malcolm Bond's office.

"He bled out internally and was dead on arrival," said Bond.

Well-wishers began placing flowers and notes in front of Fritz's modest yet cozy home within hours of his death. Over the weekend, a small plant appeared atop the telephone booth Fritz used to catch the late-afternoon sun.

Animal lover Cathie Newman still finds herself in the habit of stopping by the hall some mornings after years of caring for the cinema cat.

"He was my little bit of sunshine," Newman said. "I bet he had more friends than anybody on the island."

When Fritz arrived at Central Hall from his kittenhood home on Fort Street near Walker Hook, he bore little resemblance to the cat so many island residents have come to know and love.

Life was tough up north and Fritz eventually decided he'd had enough and began his great southward trek, only to end up at the centre of an island's attention.

Within weeks, community members donated a felt scratching post, a makeshift shelter and wool bedding, and Central Hall's board of directors warmed to the idea of having a resident cat.

"Part of what made him an integral member of the cinema was that it took some time to develop this relationship," Levy said. "At first, it was just like there was this cat hanging out and it kept hanging out and that sort of started a whole chain of events. He just showed up and developed this relationship with everybody. After all was said and done and people got used to him, he got used to people."

Levy named the cinema in the cat's honour when he purchased the business in September 2006. His decision stemmed more from a desire to capture the Fritz spirit rather than using Fritz as a gimmick to publicize the theatre.

"It was never a type of thing where you ring a bell and expect him to show up," he said. "This is a defining part of who we are. Fritz showed that we can come together even though we don't always agree."

"We do have this spirit and we are not Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo or Duncan. We are Salt Spring Island and there are a lot of unique features here."

Fritz achieved off-island fame in August 2005 when a Richmond animal rights activist attempted to save the feline from what she deemed the cinema's opportunistic use of the animal to sell movie tickets and concern for his welfare. News of the cat-napping triggered an island-wide search and Fritz was eventually returned.

Levy said he still cannot believe the community's response to the event.

"This is a little animal and people were willing to go to bat for him. You can only imagine what would have happened if a small child was taken," he said. "Salt Spring came together to fight for an animal that had no means of fighting for itself when somebody came along and grabbed him."

Louise Nye, author of the recently published Fritz the Cinema Cat, couldn't help but feel inspired by the feline's tale. Fritz, she said, proved happiness could always be found close to home and showed the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence.

"He showed us that something good can come from tragedy," she said.

Nye is planning to write a sequel titled Fritz and the Afterlife.

"I want to show that life can continue, that there is not an absolute end," she added.

Judging by the community's response, the island isn't likely to hear the end of Fritz for some time.

The driver behind the wheel of the vehicle has offered to lend her creative talents in the sculpting of a commemorative statue and Levy would like to install a plaque just above Fritz's home.

Central Hall Society chair David Holt said Fritz's legacy can hopefully translate into some long-needed action to improve traffic safety at the Central intersection.

"We are all quite devastated," he said. "If anything, this might be the impetus for something pos-itive at that intersection. How hard can it be to put up two more stop signs?"

Organizers are planning what they hope will rank among the island's largest memorial services when the cinema doors are opened for people to bid Fritz a final adieu on March 10.

Humourist Arthur Black will host the event at 2 p.m. and Salt Spring musician Jamie RT will perform a special number in the cat's memory.

"It a time for Salt Springers to get together and remember one of their own. I hope we can really celebrate Fritz's spirit," Levy said. "He defined what it is to be a good community."

Plans to replace Fritz with a theatre cat from Prince George remain premature, Levy added.

While arrangements are underway to rescue Dave the cat, Levy added, there is no guarantee he will take up residence at The Fritz cinema.

"I don't think it's the right time," he said. "We'll have to wait and see what happens."

"Now a cat is an animal who is utterly pleased to be himself."

That may be a loose quote from Doris Lessing, or perhaps some other cat-loving writer. No matter, as Fritz was an archetype among cats, it describes him to the whisker.

He lived on a busy corner and he would not have it otherwise. Attempts to make him more comfortable failed famously. The bargain he made was that we would have to fear for him, but he would become our icon. This is what he wanted all along.

And it turned out Fritz was wise, because we learned what he already knew: that we wanted to know a creature who was utterly himself. Fritz was thus daily exposed to his fate, with our collaboration. But there was no shame in this. As a lesser race, we avoid fate, in favour of passing comforts, and it is to our credit that we honoured Fritz's independence.

Now, why all the attention? Fritz was just a cat. But therein may already lie the answer to the question of why we doted on him. Our feeling for him is unalloyed with the dross of ordinary sentimentality. It is an unreserved kind of feeling. And that alone is remarkable. When our greatest die, there is always a sense of reserve: he was great, but . . . (now list the deficiencies of this late luminary).

Not so with Fritz. No one will now say he was no doubt a great lap cat, then lower their voice and confide that he was a mouser of the second class; or that he was beloved in his time but lingered too long; or he was just a subsidized icon who should have been left to free enterprise to value properly. He was frankly and simply loved. And as Michael Levy says, he had more friends than anyone on the island. That is a pretty good testament.

When Fritz was temporarily kidnapped by a well-meaning lady from back in Canada, she wanted to protect him from his dangerous life. We reacted with force (and the RCMP) that our icon was not to be tampered with. That gave a great sense of unanimity around Fritz as an idea.

The lady, of course, was right. Fritz has succumbed to his dangerous corner. But she was right only in the ordinary sense that caring for things means caring about the body while neglecting to care for the idea. Fritz could not be Fritz without his prominence and his location. In our hearts we knew the bargain we were making on his behalf.

If he could have stood for it, he would have lived longer as an ordinary house cat. But he would have been lost to us as a symbol. He would never have made the front page of the Vancouver Sun, or been eulogized on the CBC by Arthur Black. We could all wish now to be the lucky one who watched the latest flick with Fritz in his lap.

So there you have it. Fritz was better to us than any animal properly can be. And we were more caring toward him that we dare to be toward our fellow man. And there was a price to pay. It was worth it. Farewell Fritz.

I try to provide a parting wish. But I wonder: "do we perhaps need your benediction more than you need ours?"

The writer is a cat lover residing in Vesuvius.

The tone of the eulogies and anecdotes, the number of people in attendance, and the outpouring of feelings for this beloved cat was heartwarming. While I have only been on the island for a short time (10 years), I sense that this event was symbolic of a community spirit and an earlier time that is truly valued by the "old-timers" on the island.

If we can hold on to this spirit as the island changes and grows and slow down our rush to urbanize, both physically and psychically, then we may be able to retain a small bit of a treasured way of life - the lifestyle that attracted most of us to the island in the first place. And we would owe it all to Fritz for showing us the way.

Wouldn't this be a fitting tribute to his memory?

BEN GOODMAN,
Salt Spring

I'm here to set the record straight and say that this is simply not true.

As I was, indeed, present immediately after Fritz' accident, I can tell you that my husband and I were instrumental in getting hold of the vet and expediting Fritz on his journey to get help as quickly as possible. My dog clients were nowhere around during this time. I checked with the vet three times that evening concerning Fritz' welfare.

As I stated at Fritz' memorial service on Saturday, he loved attending dog class. He would greet me at the door and I would chat to him as I set up. He would often settle on his "throne" and watch the dogs as they arrived in class as if to say "All are welcome here - even dogs!"

It took more than a dog to "spook" Fritz. Eventually, I would have to gently pick him up and show him the door, telling him that the dogs simply couldn't concentrate with him around. Even though he was great at the activities we teach in class such as: calm behaviour, good greeting manners and the long down - the dogs just weren't quite up to his level yet.

Fritz was a rare cat and a great ambassador for his species. We, at dog class, miss him a lot - but I can still feel his presence as I open up for class.

Thanks for the memories, Fritz!

SHERI STANDEN,
Salt Spring dog trainer

I hope the cinema will not get a Fritz II. They should post a large black-edged photo of Fritz with an abject apology to him below.

If they are so unthinking as to get a Fritz II, I will financially help anyone who rescues and hides him. We should not put a sentient being in danger as a commodity to advance business interests.

JACK HALLAM,
North End Road

One of Salt Spring's most famous residents is about to "tell all" in the upcoming, self-titled autobiography, Fritz the Cat.

In the past couple of years Fritz has survived a misguided abduction and had the local cinema renamed in his honour. He explains his perspective on these and other matters as told to Louise Nye, a former owner of the cinema Fritz now calls home.

Nye, who Fritz refers to as "the lady in the black hat," decided the cat's story must be told when she met his former owner last year. "It was a year ago this late November, I was in the Pharmasave and a woman came over to me who was the first owner of Fritz," said Nye. Nye was given some baby pictures of Fritz, which she copied, framed, and passed on to the cinema later that evening.

"While I was sitting in the show I thought 'You know what? There should be a book about Fritz. I was flying to Toronto, so I wrote it on the plane. And I got it back there and I read it to my granddaughter at her birthday party. There were 11 kids there and they all said they'd buy it - they loved it."

With the input of her grandchildren and of her two sisters - artists and educators who once owned the cinema with Nye - she reworked the story to reflect their criticisms. The story changed from a "once upon a time" tale to one told by Fritz himself. Nye also included more humour in the book on the advice of grandson Sam.

Nye reports, "I told him, 'I want your honest opinion,' and he said, 'Well, I really like the funny parts but there weren't enough of them.'" So more funny parts went in.

At some point Nye became discouraged but says she was inspired to continue by several sources. Initially, it was her stint last year as judge for the Driftwood Christmas Story Contest that got her going.

"I get such a kick out of that and it reminded me of how much I liked to write as a kid," Nye recalled.

Later, it was Fritz himself who intervened when the going was tough. In a special conversation at the cinema (where Nye has a lifetime pass and unlimited popcorn), Fritz jumped in her lap for the very first time and encouraged her to continue.

The resulting 50-page book clears up some mysteries about Fritz's life, such as why he left home and got into trouble before being rescued by the cinema staff.

"I had little talks with Fritz, and he told me all about this, you see," said Nye.

Readers will also enjoy identifying the Salt Spring landmarks and movies that Fritz refers to but doesn't know by name. As Nye explained, "Fritz has trouble with language; he's a very smart cat but he gets words confused."

With illustrations by local artist Jo Lundstrom-Smith, Nye says the book will appeal to a variety of ages.

"It's mainly geared towards children, but I've had adults who have read it and who get a kick out of it because they know Fritz and they know the story."

Nye apologizes to local Christmas shoppers about the late publication date. Those who are in a rush to send the book away as a gift can order copies online at www.trafford.com; otherwise the author asks that people buy locally.

This is Nye's first published book, although she has been working for years on an ongoing project, an historical novel based on her family's experiences in India during the 1850s.

From the Gulf Islands Driftwood

The most famous and well-beloved public animal figure in Salt Spring history will be back in the limelight with the launch of a second book in his honour on March 1.

Louise Nye, biographer of Fritz the Cat, offers Fritz Gets His Wings as a possible post-death adventure for the feline, who was killed by a car in February 2007.

Fritz died just two short months after the launch of Nye's first book, Fritz the Cinema Cat. The author was in the midst of performing readings for various school groups, and had read to the Salt Spring Centre School only two days before the cat's death. Both the author and the island children for whom the book was written were therefore con-fronted with the death on a very personal level. The inspiration for the new story came shortly after Fritz's death, when a cinema staff member told Nye about seeing the cat's spirit walking up the theatre aisle.

"That's when I realized there could be another book," she recalled.

Nye says Fritz Gets His Wings is intended to play a part in the healing process for all those who knew and loved Fritz, and for those who did not know him but have dealt with other deaths. At the same time, it is a light-hearted story that won't scare children, without evading the actual details of the cat's passing.

"At first I was going to just allude to the accident, but my editor and illustrator, Jo Lundstrom Smith, said 'that's kind of a big thing - you can't just skirt over it.' And for lots of kids, their first introduction to death is through a pet."

While the first book explains Fritz's mysterious past, the sequel proposes his crossing into the even more mysterious realm of the afterlife. This book, which Nye says "has a little more plot than the first one," begins with the accident and follows Fritz and his new friend Misty on a tour of Salt Spring, during which Misty tries to help Fritz say goodbye to his old life and move on to the next phase. This important supporting character was Nye's own pet, who was hit by a car three months previous to Fritz.

Similar to the first book, during Fritz and Misty's tour of Salt Spring they visit several lo-cations that local children will enjoy recognizing, including all the elementary schools. The animals also go up Mount Erskine to see the fairy doors, pop soap bubbles and visit the amazing video store that gives out free popcorn.

As the book's title suggests, Fritz does learn to let go and move on to the next phase of his journey. But Nye says she has been careful to make her vision of heaven as open as possible.

"I wanted it to be generalized to fit all religions and everyone," she explained. "I didn't want to be preachy or offend anyone."

One key feature is that this heaven doesn't segregate pets and humans; "everyone is all together over there, just like they are here."

With over 700 copies of the first Fritz book sold in local bookstores in just over year, Nye can expect an enthusiastic response to the sequel. The original launch at Sabine's book store in December 2006 saw record-breaking sales for a local author at that location, and Nye even ran out of books and had to run a waiting list.

The upcoming launch will be held again at Sabine's (where Lundstrom Smith also works) at 1 p.m. this Saturday. Nye is hoping more children will attend the event, which will include a reading, free Fritz bookmarks and cookies.