I’ve written recently about finding a long-lost friend in an unlikely way, via his son’s photo on a Facebook page. Now comes word that the son — singer, songwriter, and aspiring actor — will soon release his first CD.
His father and I have exchanged emails since making contact in September and pledged to meet at some point soon. His emails took on more vibrancy today when I listened to two of his son’s songs on MySpace. They’re beautiful, conveying range and passion and artistry that remind me of entertainers who achieved stardom.
To my ear, young James’ soaring voice sounds nothing like his father’s, not that I can recall my friend ever singing. There’s certainly no evidence of dad’s touch of Kentucky accent. As I listened, the songs brought to mind — oddly — basketball.
The singing became a soundtrack for dad’s exploits on the court. They spooled from my memory like grainy black-and-white home movies: the quick pull-up jump shot from the top of the key, the fake and drive to the basket, the pinpoint pass to a teammate. Jim was a star on our Winter Park High School team, but always humble, and went on to play at the college level.
From the stands I saw every game our senior year, home and away, and probably lived vicariously through him. I played against him too, in my bumbling way. We had pick up games in my driveway with our friends and my brothers, and I can still see Jim slicing to the basket, trademark determination written on his face.
Reading between the lines of young James’ MySpace profile, there’s a lot of determination behind the CD — from son and parents alike. I hope he scores big.
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Mike, thanks for the nice words and thoughts. And you are correct he did not get his vocal talents from me. I’m looking forward to meeting up with you sometime in the future although must admit based on your memories I’m pretty sure you won’t recognize me. A story of my playing days, I ran into one of my college coaches about 10yrs ago and he commented how I had helped/inspired him. I was surprised, then he said “yeah, I looked at you and decided if I was going to make it as a coach, I had to get much better talent than you”.
Regarding James’CD, it should be available around Thanksgiving. Thanks again for your kind words and getting the word out about James.
Mike, Jim has shared your website with us. Some day I want to sit down and read everything. Today I read what you wrote about James … and Jim. You are right on target. The first time I heard James sing was at my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. That was 11 years ago. It is wonderful that he has continued singing, added composing and developed his first CD. We are very proud of him and his parents.
Jim,
Not many of us look much the same after four decades. At our forty-year reunion, I generally recognized at first glance the people I considered friends, although everyone naturally had aged a good bit. (The women in our circle, however, still looked as beautiful and as enticing as they did in the long-gone school days.)
Thankfully we had name tags with our yearbook pictures so we could recognize people with whom we didn’t spend as much time. How we look, frankly, means little. Generally, we’re all the same as we were personality wise — or at least that’s what I observed.
As for that coach, it sounds like he put himself first rather than the young men on his team. That may be overly harsh, given that I don’t know the guy or the circumstances. And “talent” to my mind has many components, including critical ones that transcend purely physical gifts. Good or even great teams aren’t necessarily the most talented. But you know that.
Please let me know when James’ CD is available. At the least I’ll update what I wrote and add a link so people can find it.
Glad you stop at the blog often.
Mike
Mary,
What a treat to hear from you after all these years. I hope life has treated you well. I still marvel at how James’ Facebook page led me to Jim — and now you. My father and brothers will be happy to know that I heard from you. Dad, 80 and doing well, still talks about when you and Jim lived with our family.
– Mike