Following our board members' visit to the Billy Fiske Foundation dinner at the British Embassy this past August, we are thrilled to bring the foundation's story and inspiration directly to Pittsburgh.
Join us on Thursday, November 5th at 7:00pm at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall for a presentation by Ross Mirmelstein of the Billy Fiske Foundation, bringing the extraordinary life of Billy Fiske to life for a new generation.
William "Billy" Fiske III was an American bobsled champion, Cambridge scholar, and one of the first Americans to volunteer to fight for Britain in World War II — he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve at the outbreak of WWII in Europe eventually becoming a RAF pilot. During the Battle of Britian, Billy has the distinction of being the first American-citizen pilot to be killed in action during World War II.
More than 80 years later, his story of courage and transatlantic friendship feels as relevant as ever.
Ross Mirmelstein
Ross Mirmelstein was born and raised in Virginia. He attended East Tennessee State University, earning a bachelor's degree (June 1971) with a double major in both History and Criminal Justice. He earned a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice (1975) at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York. While at John Jay, he was a graduate assistant to the Deans of Faculty.
Upon earning this degree, he relocated to Chicago, where he was one of the founders of the National Commission of Correctional Health Care (NCCHC). While there he helped develop the Standards for Health Care in Jails as well as standards for health care in both prisons and juvenile institutions. He ran a national jail health care accreditation program and managed the NCCHC's annual conferences and meetings. Additionally, he co-authored a training manual for jail deputies and correctional officers on suicide prevention of inmates in jails and provided numerous training sessions to sheriffs' deputies around the country.
In July 1989, Ross joined the National Sheriffs' Association (NSA) as Director of Meetings. He was responsible for all aspects of meeting planning (including, but not limited to marketing, contract negotiation, conference management, etc.) for the NSA's annual June Conference and Trade Show (5000 attendees), as well as an annual Winter Conference (1,000 attendees). He also managed numerous training sessions for sheriffs' offices on a variety of topics (i.e., jail operations, counterterrorism, courtroom security, etc.). He is now semiretired, serving as Special Advisor to the NSA's Executive Director and CEO.
In 1962, Ross became interested in the Battle of Britain after reading the biography (Fly for Your Life) of legendary RAF fighter pilot Douglas Bader. Since then, he has amassed an extensive library of over 200 books on all aspects of The Battle of Britain. He also has collected WWII Aviation Art (over 50 lithographs, numbered and signed by both the artists and pilots), the majority of which commemorates the Battle of Britain.
Veterans and Active Duty use the code FISKE for 50% Discount.
*10% of your ticket supports Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall