Segle George Fry III, 1937-2015

Segle Fry was a Tyler native and UT graduate who was part of Austin's music and restaurant scenes off and on from the late Sixties until his death on January 5 at the age of 77.

Though Segle played both guitar and five string banjo during Austin's folk heyday of the Checkered Flag and Castle Creek in the late Sixties and early Seventies, he's probably best remembered for his association with two popular restaurants. The late Fletcher Boone and Jim "Lopez" Smitham brought Segle to Another Raw Deal (formerly at 1110 W. Sixth) in the late Seventies. He helped them create an atmosphere that made the west Austin watering hole a popular hangout for writers, politicians, and musicians of the day.

From Another Raw Deal, Segle moved on to open the original Good Eats Cafe (formerly 1530 Barton Springs Rd) with a group of investors in 1983, joining Chuy's on what would soon become Austin's first restaurant row. Good Eats wasn't a music venue, as such, but because of Segle's huge network of friends in the Texas music scene, it became a great place to meet or catch a glimpse of local and traveling musicians: an unassuming Willie Nelson having a quiet cup of coffee; Steve Fromholz holding forth at a corner table; Derek O'Brien courting one of the managers; Kim Wilson flirting with a hostess with blues greats in tow; folk duo Bill and Bonnie Hearn on the way to or from the Kerrville Folk Festival; or Miss Lou Ann Barton drinking her lunch of an afternoon. With good Southern comfort food and affordable drinks, Segle served up the personal hospitality that made Good Eats a place everyone wanted to be.

If you write for a newspaper long enough, you eventually end up writing obituaries for people you knew and cared about. I got to know Segle Fry when Good Eats was a reliable client of my wholesale dessert business back in the day and considered him a friend ever after. I'd lost track of his over the past few years but always knew if I needed to find him, the singer-songwriter haven at the Saxon Pub would be a good place to look.

After Segle passed away, I discovered he'd spent the past few years working for Eat Out In. His employer and longtime friend Jackie Davies spoke fondly of him. "Segle worked for us for nearly five years, even though we had to get a special waver from our insurance company because of his age. You'd think most guys in their 70's would want to retire, but he really loved the contact with people. He'd make catering runs to businesses at lunch time and then deliver dinners at night. The restaurants loved him and he had lots of regular customers. We're going to miss him." Davies also recalled that her friendship with Segle spanned 30 years because he'd been instrumental in getting Good Eats Cafe to sign on as one of Eat Out In's first restaurant delivery clients when she founded the company in 1986.

Segle Fry is survived by his daughter Laura Rattikin and husband Jack, son Scott Miller and wife Elizabeth, brother Steve Fry and wife Jean Ann, sister Sharon Fry, a nephew, and four grandchildren. If you are so inclined, they suggest memorials in his honor to your local Humane Society or the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians. Friends from all aspects of Segle's life are invited to a celebration at the Saxon Pub (1320 S. Lamar) on Sunday, January 25 from 2-5pm.