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I wanted to let my friends and family know that we lost one of my favorite performers last week. Jerry Jeff Walker passed away at 78 years old. You don’t know this but I was the President of the Louisiana chapter of the Jerry Jeff fan club. Jerry Jeff was a Texas country outlaw singer who began his musical career as a New Yorker, but gravitated to Texas and teamed up with the likes of Waylon Jennings, David Allan Coe, Billy Joe Shaver, and Kinky Friedman. Remember “Mr. Bojangles” about an old street performer in New Orleans? My first Jerry Jeff concert was in 1982 at Armadillo World in Austin, a country music venue that held concerts nightly with an atmosphere something like the Flora-Bama beach bar in Gulf Shores, Alabama. There was a sign-up sheet to receive Jerry Jeff’s newsletter and become a member of his fan club. Of course, I joined up.
A few days later, his assistant called to say Jerry Jeff was looking for a president of his fan club in Louisiana. I was secretary of state at the time, but I could always find a few moments to perform my fan club duties for a musical favorite. How could I turn down the author and singer of “To read his obituary in tT New York Times, Click Here. We will miss Jerry Jeff.