Calvin Henry Fixx

Calvin Henry Fixx

Calvin Henry Fixx was born on August 1, 1906 in Pocatello. He spent most of his boyhood in Porter, Washington and graduated from high school in Aberdeen, Washington. He attended a business school in Aberdeen and saved money for college. A year’s illness wiped out his savings.

At age 19 he hitchhiked to New York and got a job in a Greenwich Village bookshop and began doing freelance book reviews. He once figured he had worked at 63 jobs, varying from selling baptismal tubs to working with a railroad section gang.

He changed his name from Fix to Fixx, because, he said, “a verb cannot be a name.”

Calvin married Marlys Virginia Fuller in Jackson Heights, New York on October 31, 1930, and they made their home in Jackson Heights.

Calvin started employment at TIME magazine in 1936. He did editorial work for the books, religion, and press departments. In November 1942 he suffered a severe heart attack, which put him in the hospital for weeks and on the sick list for a year. After returning to work, he was transferred from editorial work to the special projects department. He was interested in music and all types of literature, including the Bible. He had no formal education beyond high school, but he had an incredible mind and was respected by the editors at TIME, who were graduates of Ivy League universities.

He was a member of the Episcopal Church.

He died of a heart attack in Atlantic City, New Jersey on March 3, 1950 at the age of 42. He is buried in a private cemetery near Carmel, New York.

Marlys never remarried and resides in Sarasota, Florida.

Children: 1) James Fuller Fixx, 1932; 2) Catherine (Kitty) Virginia Fixx, 1934. Jim Fixx was a noted author and runner. His 1977 bestseller, The Complete Book of Running, helped launch America’s running boom. He died of a heart attack while running on July 20, 1984 at the age of 52. Kitty lives in California.

Compiled for inclusion in the book of family history entitled "Isaac Charles Smith and Catherine Hannah Galbraith" published in 2000 by Foster V. Hall