I believe this is why we are all gathered here today: Because Anne Ball opened so many secrets to all of us—individually and collectively.

I have several short stories to share with you that were examples, I believe, of many other stories that will go unsaid today as we revisit Anne in our memories. I’ll start by referring to Einstein’s ‘Miracle Thinking:

"There are two ways to live your life: One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle."

I’d like to speak about the miracle of friendship, and the gift of friendship which Anne shared with so many of us.

I believe that Anne practiced the importance of having a shared history with others and the she knew that was sacred!

It was the way she demonstrated her commitment to her truth!

I also believe that life is a shared history, and that life is a part of the puzzle of love; one of the Laws of Nature in mankind.

Anne was born in Celtic Astrology under the line of the Rowan tree, the tree of sensitivity. Defined in the Celtic tradition as a person who is:

• Full of charm, cheerful, gifted without egoism
• Loves life and motion
• Dependent and independent
• Has good taste, is artistic, as is good company

Sounds like Anne to a "T," doesn’t it?

Anne was a pioneer, and citizen of the world in her personal and career life—and a citizen of the universe, in her spiritual life.

No wonder one of her favorite weekly regimes was reading The Science of the Times.

It was no coincidence that ten days ago on the cover of The Science of the Times appeared an article entitled "A View of the New Stars."

For as stars spread light to lead the way, so did Anne for so many of us. As of today, thanks to the International Star Registry, a star has been named for Anne in the constellation of Taurus.

As the galaxies collide and give birth to streams of new stars, now we’ll always know where Anne is.

Her light will reflect on us: her family, her friends, her work colleagues, and all the numerous others she continued to guide on the paths to our destinies.

Another metaphor of Anne’s legacy comes to mind from the passage in the book The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawkin, founder of Smith & Hawkin:

"The promise of business is to increase the general well-being of humankind through service, a creative invention, and ethical philosophy."

Anne and I referred to this passage many times when we would discuss the importance of people to connect with their intuition and passion. Today I would like to paraphrase this passage:

Anne’s promise was to increase the well-being of humankind through service to others, her many creative endeavors, and her ethical philosophy.

I first met Anne in the Fall of 1982 at Neiman-Marcus in Dallas. In the late 80’s I was in Denver at the opening of Printemps; to see her totally in her element, as I had known her then.

But later, I met her for lunch at the new Bendel’s on 5th Avenue with our mutual friend, Harlan Bratcher, where she showed her passion for working on her Masters of Arts degree.

That’s when another part of Anne and I connected. It was then that I knew we would make a greater journey in our friendship, outside of New York and outside the fashion industry.

So, several years later, I had the opportunity to re-introduce Anne and Frank to Big Sur; only this time, it was as visitors to a secret land I had held close for years—a special 220 acre parcel of land, owned by my close artist friend, Emile Norman, a Big Sur resident of 50 years, who had a 140 acre greenbelt of redwoods, oaks and pines with a 360° view of the ocean, the canyons, the Santa Lucia Mountains and meadows of wild sage.

So, here we were on Anne’s first visit to see what I had shown Frank earlier—a place for their future retreat…

But the parameters of this purchase were based upon Emile’s approval of both the building plans and the character of the purchasers. It wasn’t on the open market. Emile was hand-choosing his neighbors.

So here we were, in a downpour of rain. It had rained all day, and after lunch, with no relief in sight, we walked out to tour the land. As we walked on our way, Emile, a discerning and intuitive man himself, pulled me aside and whispered, "I must have Anne as my neighbor!"

That evening when Anne and I rested by the fire at the hotel, she told me how moved she was with Emile’s passion for life! Anne had met her discerning match. The rest is history. Anne and Frank bought their dream of the future…

Over the years when Anne would visit Big Sur she would casually inquire of Emile, now 82 years old (and still highly active in sculpting), if one day she could be his apprentice? Emile’s answer: that once she moved to Big Sur, he would say, "Yes."

So why Big Sur?

Well, Big Sur plays a special role in Western American culture. Artists, writers, and alternative thinkers have come to this region to think and express important issues that affect life and society, including America’s first think-tank, The Esalen Institute, which was founded there in the 60’s.

Recently Anne was given a copy of the December, 1951 issue of Family Circle featuring an article entitled: Big Sur-Utopia, USA? By Jean Hersey. And I quote:

"Whenever people speak of Utopia or Shangri-La, I think of Big Sur… Few know the kind of life that is lived in Big Sur… I discovered a unique community where people are more interested in living than having… in doing than getting…"

And so it seems right when I read the mission of the Big Sur Land Trust, one of the memorial funds created in Anne’s memory, that states in part:

"…to protect for public benefit…safe-guarding our scenic resources as an unspoiled heritage for the future."

The Big Sur Land Trust was co-founded by Margaret Owenings, wife of Nathaniel Owenings of the respected architectural firm, Skidmore, Owenings and Merrill, who lived in Big Sur.

Anne was taken by Margaret Owening’s commitment to conservation and preservation…and Anne was inspired by Margaret’s passion to convince Ladybird Johnson to support making Highway One America’s first scenic highway in the 60’s.

I believe Anne is saying to us, "Remember the importance to commune with nature as part of your heritage for the future."

When I think of Anne’s interest and attraction to Big Sur, I think of this quote from Jack Kornfield:

"Enlightenment is intimacy with all things."

Anne was truly intimate with all things in so many ways…

This intimacy comes across in the many discussions we had on her visits. Whether it was about her wish to someday return to academic life, this time possibly to the University of California, Santa Cruz, just up the coast…or to tour the twenty-one California missions, with her interest in the Spanish heritage of California.

Which brings to mind this note she wrote in ’95 to me:

"If Emile is the magical spirit of the south, then your spirit prevails the entire coastline north."

"I’m always struck by the ease of how we seem to pick-up as if we left each other only a few hours before."

"Once again, you give me reason to my desire to be near in locale."

Printed on this postcard are three words: Energy, Motivation, Balance. At the bottom was signed, as all her correspondence was signed, "I.L.Y."

Now as I look back I have come to reference these initials as:

I for Anne’s Intimacy
L for Anne’s Light
Y for Anne’s endless Youth

I have one last passage to share with you, and it was one of the more recent encounters with Anne that always reminded me of her unending search for knowledge, history and reading.

About two summers ago I took Anne on a day-long adventure into the Santa Lucia Mountains, inland between Carmel Valley and Big Sur, to the San Francisco Zen Center’s retreat community, Tassajara.

Over the last fourteen years since I left New York City for the Monterey Peninsula, this had become my personal weekend getaway.

After arriving at the end of a fourteen-mile dirt road, I gave Anne a tour of the compound, and we then took a short hike over to the hot springs, where she remembered that I had pointed out a library on the grounds.

After lunch we spent several hours in this tiny library, the size of a large walk-in closet. We went off into separate corners and spent our time discovering…

In all the years I had visited Tassajara, I had never ventured into the library. But with Anne’s intuition (or, as her friend Tom Raney would say, her discerning intuition), there I was…And that is where I discovered a section on the history of the indigenous people of the Big Sur Coast, the Esselen Indian Tribe.

One of the Eselen mythologies was of Father Sky:

Father Sky spoke around the sacred wheel of life…

He spoke to the Yellow Man: "I am sending you to the East and I will give you the sacred truth of spirit."

To the Black Man: "I am sending you to the South and I will give you the sacred beauty of the physical body."

To the Red Man: "I am sending you to the West and I will give you the sacred teaching of earth."

Finally, he spoke to the White Man: "I am sending you North and I will give you the sacred teaching of the mind."

It is here in the West that you will find your Red brothers and you will learn from each other the equal portions of the truth I have given you.

The Eselen people were considered the guardians of the "Window to the Afterlife…" Here in Big Sur is where the spirits of all mankind, from all the corners of the earth, come to depart into the afterlife…or as the Spanish named it, La Ventana.

So there is where Anne now goes as she prepares for her next journey…

So remember what Anne has left us:

The truth that "The heart is not judged by how much you love,
but by how much you are loved by others."

We love you, Anne!