Anne was a friend for all seasons. Our paths crossed for the first time when I moved to Dallas to work for Neiman Marcus and became her boss, almost three decades ago. Actually, I never really became her boss. I became her partner. We bonded in the first few weeks and from that time on our association was one of sharing, learning and growing, experiencing good times and bad, making lots of mistakes and having an occasional success here or there.

There was never a dull moment.

Anne was a challenge, creative, forward thinking, and always a step ahead of her time as well as a step ahead of everyone else. I had to run to keep up and I loved every minute of it.

We traveled the world in our quest for the special, the unusual, or the best and Anne always seemed to find it. There was no better person to figure out how to develop some wonderfully innovative fashion out of something or someplace no one had dealt with before. We were dedicated to carrying forward the heritage of the company, and she did. Her innate great taste and sense of style would shine through everything she touched, and this produced wonderful results.

I could write a book about my travels with Anne.

There was always time to play a little and there was no better person to play with.

There were bush walks in Australia, massages under silk in Bangkok, all nighters sipping wine in the lobby of the Regent in Hong Kong, four star restaurants on the Riviera, flea markets in London, driving to the Villa d’Esta at Lake Como in a mini-van when I almost ran us off the road, among other adventures. We even learned how to get lost in Tokyo. Our mutual love of blue and white porcelains made us collectors in the Orient, but Anne had the original inspiration. She did the selecting frequently and I negotiated the price.

I could go on and on.

Her curiosity about the world was enormous, her imagination even greater, and her enthusiasm for exploring and doing and learning amazing. I never heard Anne say "I’m tired," not once in all those years.

No matter how long it took she would always get the job she was there to do done, and done well. She never missed a beat.

Quite a visionary, to boot. Somehow she knew that Giorgio Armani was going to make it before the rest of the world did. Actually, she helped him do it.

This is not to say that she didn’t get carried away some times. I remember with glee her deciding that Norma Kamali throw-away clothes (actually made of a kind of paper material) were going to be big. Many mark down dollars later we both had a lot of explaining to do. I remember also her excitement about the then emerging Japanese fashion industry, long before Issey Miyake became a limited household name. She was intent on checking it out. The big boss said OK, go there, but please don’t buy anything. We went and didn’t but we learned. Out of this grew Anne’s love of Japan, the home of her birth, and her involvement in later years.

She was never enslaved to fashion. She just understood it. Her personal code of dress emerged from what could be called preppy to what is now casual Friday every day of the week, long before it was accepted and understood by anyone. I marveled at her intuition and the contributions she made to a skittish industry. Black tie dressing always bothered Anne, so versions of tuxedos became staples for special occasions and that, as you can imagine, started another trend.

Even when Anne said "no" to a manufacturer trying to sell her the line, she was still respected and appreciated, which was quite a feat then as it is now. Everyone loved her because she gave them incentives to be better and the hope that they could achieve the high standards that she set. There are many graduates of the Anne Ball school, all privileged for having been coached by her, many of whom are here today. She had an uncanny ability to help people work well together and she never lacked for candidates eager to move in her circle.

All that aside, there was beautiful Anne, a person of unusual integrity, honesty, and intelligence, a fun-loving warm and gracious lady who embraced her friends and family with her goodness and charm, her loyalty and gentility.

Our paths may have separated but our friendship continued to grow. Anne loved New York. There were museum visits, concerts, theater, art exhibits, long lunches and dinners, all made special and memorable because we shared them. There was a subscription to BAM one year and we actually traveled to Brooklyn to attend the performances. She figured out how to get there. At one point we even found ourselves working in the same company once again, allowing us many a corporate giggle and an outlet for the usual frustrations.

She had so many interests, some rather surprising. She decided to learn to needlepoint at one point, mastered it and created some beautiful pillows. She got me started but after a while she graciously offered to complete my first and only unfinished work of art. I treasure it today. A less surprising one was when she went back to school a few years ago and took several semesters of English lit courses at NYU. She never stopped reading, learning and expanding her horizons. I tried to keep up with her book recommendations but it was not easy. She lost me with Doris Lessing.

She touched so many lives in so many ways, mine especially. No one ever had a better friend, more loving, caring, and special.

Her blithe spirit will live in my heart and mind and soul forever.