OFFICIAL Jerry Wexler's Blog
Paul Wexler eulogy...
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Today, the day we have gathered here to bury my father, I find myself thinking of Jean, my sister Lisa and all the good friends here in Sarasota and elsewhere who sweetened his years of exile.
Exile can be more than a mere physical separation. Just as King Lear gave up his throne too early, Jerry let go the tiller at Atlantic way too soon. For such a supremely capable man, losing the ability to act on his insights was a tragedy and the world's loss. But we can be thankful that his pain was eased by good friends, many who are standing here today, and for that I thank you all.
As for myself, I wonder what is left to hold on to.
I am surviving, it is true, but Jerry's passing makes it clear that survival is but a temporary vanity.
Yet in the midst of missing my father it strikes me that I am a lucky man.
I am lucky to be the son of such a man, of such a father. Much of who I am, of what I am comes from Jerry, and that makes me a lucky man.
My love of language, of wordplay is a gift from Jerry and because of that I am a lucky man.
My lifelong involvement in music, as a listener, a producer and a player is but a reflection of his greatest interest. With this gift still with me, I am a lucky man.
Jerry's unsurpassed ability to focus on all aspects of a problem and find the exact right solution is an approach I try to emulate, and with that example before me I am a lucky man.
Jerry's need to work through a job to its finish, to down all barriers to completion was a great gift to have set before me, and so I am a lucky man.
The only way I can face this loss is to remember that my father's love, his guidance, and his vision will be with me always and for that, I am a lucky man.
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