Sep 3, 2023

Jimmy Buffet Rest in Peace

 Any other Jimmy Buffett fans among us?

For a guy who started  his adult life by flunking out of a college in Alabama, he had an  amazing and varied life; singer/songwriter, best selling author, entrepreneur and founder of a tropical themed empire of restaurants, hotels and casinos, clothing, even a  Margaritaville themed retirement community.

Jimmy Buffet is dead and I feel like a part of my young adulthood is gone. There are no more Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The pirate won’t see 80. The people our parents warned us about are now at or past retirement age.

And to think, his death occurred just ahead of the Labor Day Weekend Show. Hushpuppies or not.

We mourn celebrities when they die as if we knew them and they were part of our family. They aren’t, of course, but Jimmy Buffett in particular seemed to feel like that fun uncle who showed up and whisked us off to a different, more exciting place. Maybe it was Pascagoula. Who knows?

The truth is we did little more than dress up in fun colorful shirts and wear beads and feathers while we sat in a concert hall or amphitheater and listened to Jimmy transport us to a different place full of soothing waves, sandy shores and boat drinks.

None of us actually were regularly soaking up the sun on a tropical island or were being shot at while flying over Jamaica after being mistaken for a drug smuggler. We were parents, workers, 9-to-5ers and beyond with a lot more on our minds than what Jimmy Buffett was singing about on stage.

But for those times, whether in person, at home or singing along in our car, we were part of that world. His world. It was escapism and it was wonderful.

To quote Jimmy:

“I want to be there

Want to go back down and lie beside the sea there

With a tin cup for a chalice, fill it up with good red wine

And I’m a chewin’ on a honeysuckle vine.”

And now, Jimmy Buffett is dead and I don’t feel so good myself. But I am grateful for the experience.

https://www.al.com/opinion/2023/09/jimmy-buffet-is-dead-and-i-dont-feel-so-good-myself.html


Bill Kamenjarin

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Hey Bill,

We attended my brother in law’s funeral yesterday.
Sad day.
Jimmy Buffett adds to the sadness.
As the son of a son of a sailer ( my Dad’s Dad) I particularly identify with that song over others.
I did soak up the sun and fly around Jamaica and the Caribbean being mistaken for a drug smuggler while working for Uncle Sam before they became wacky in DC.
I knew one of his pilots and he thought he was a great guy so adds to we have lost a class act who does reenforce that we need to appreciate every day we wake up and have another day.

Ray Justinic 

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It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere
Song by Jimmy Buffett


Join us in a toast to Jimmy Buffett. One of the good guys.
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