Incommunicado

Over the weekend, an Icon passed. You may have heard of him – Jimmy Buffett.

While I never met the man, he had quite the influence on my life. I still remember when “Come Monday” was first released (yes, I’m that old). Every time it would come on the radio, I would stop whatever I was doing, sit down, and listen to it.

Years later, I went to my first Jimmy Buffett concert in Miami. It was a blast! At that moment, I became a Parrot Head. Arms up, hands together like I was praying, arms swaying side to side to the beat of “Fins”.

The quote in my Master’s thesis (which my advisors wanted me to remove, which I adamantly refused to do) is “I ate the last mango in Paris, took the last plane out of Saigon. I caught the first fast boat to China, but Jimmy, there’s still so much to be done.” I love that quote. There’s still so much to be done. I live my life that way (or try to). You should, too.

I met my wife at a wedding, but our relationship was completely platonic for years. One fall, I had tickets to see Jimmy at the Shoreline Amphitheater, but my date blew me off. I called my now wife and said, “Wanna see Jimmy Buffett?” Eight months later we were engaged.

Our first dog (pre-engagement) was a big, goofy Yellow Lab we named “Joe Merchant” after Jimmy’s novel, Where is Joe Merchant?

When we got married, our first dance was a Jimmy Buffett number from his newest release. Sadly, I don’t remember which one (but it was likely “Blue Heaven Rendezvous).

My first professional presentation was at the Association of American Geographers annual conference in Honolulu in 1999. The title of my presentation? “Where is Margaritaville? The physical manifestation of place perception.” It was all about how people took Jimmy’s song and transformed them into restaurants that fit their version of Margaritaville. In a sad sort of way, many of them had to shut down as Jimmy pushed legal action to make Margaritaville his own brand. I understand, but I think it deprived us Parrot Heads of the many interpretations I had uncovered. Maybe I’ll post an image or two (if I can find the slides – yes, we’re talking actual film slides, pre-PowerPoint, where one used a slide projector).

As many of you know, I walked the Camino de Santiago a couple of times. After the first Camino (a short one), my wife and I drove to Marseilles, just so I could stand at the waters edge, along the coast, and listen to Jimmy sing “Coast of Marseilles.” Yeah, weird, but that’s what I like to do. We then went to Paris, where I had a dish with a mango. My photo caption on my private Facebook page says

Coast of Marseilles (if you look real close, you might see my iPod earbuds). From my FB Page: “Nothing says Bucket List quite as good as listening to Jimmy Buffett’s “Coast of Marseilles” while standing on the Coast of Marseilles in Marseilles, France.”

Last Mango in Paris. From my FB Page: “Eating the last mango in Paris.”

A lot of us Parrot Heads are using the same line to sum up how we feel about Jimmy’s passing: Some of it’s tragic, and some of it’s magic, but he had a good life all the way.”

RIP Jimmy Buffett – fair winds and following seas. You’ve gone incommunicado, but your legacy lives on.