I have built his web sites, his promotional DVDs, his press kits and much more. Some I was paid for, some I did when he needed a favor. The truth is I enjoyed doing stuff for him so much I probably would have done all of it for free if I could. He would never have allowed that, of course, he had pride as well as talent.
In 2010 Jimmy did a lengthy interview with WKNO in Memphis. In it he recounted many of the stories he’d shared with me and a few he hadn’t. I didn’t feel slighted in the least. I knew stories about his family and his early years that were never going to be in an interview like that.
Not because they were salacious. They weren’t. Simply because they were quiet and personal and those kind of stories make boring press.
“My kids liked George Burns” is not that interesting of a story. Not to outsiders, anyway. Which, to me, is fine. We all need to be able to keep some part of our lives to ourselves.
Jimmy and his family have always been good and kind to me. So while I, Marilyn, Dana, Bartolomeo, Antonio, Alexa and Juan will mourn the loss of someone we deeply loved, we will also celebrate the life of a man who truly enjoyed all the gifts God had given him.
Hopefully, when all is said and done, each of us can say the same.
I leave you not with some woeful missive, or tearful treacle, but with a video of a laugh that Jimmy loved sharing.
Thank you for allowing me to let him share it one last time.
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