Fred Pfister, former editor of Ozarks Mountaineer and beloved Branson writer, dead at 75 Gregory J. Holman, Springfield News-Leader Fred Pfister, a Branson writer, editor, professor and civic volunteer who for many years taught English at College of the Ozarks and then afterward for 13 years edited a legendary but now-defunct culture magazine, The Ozarks Mountaineer, died Friday, Feb. 26 at Cox South hospital in Springfield. He was 75. Camille Dautrich, a friend since 1974, said Pfister passed away after a recent surgery, having lived with heart problems for a long time. "He was a Renaissance man," said Judy Domeny Bowen, an Ozarks folk musician, storyteller and teacher living in Rogersville who knew Pfister through their shared interest in beekeeping. That was just one of many hobbies, clubs and public roles Pfister busied himself with.