Bridget, Scott, Uncle Mike, Jim

To the above photo, Jimmy wrote on October 27, 2010, "I can't wait to hear what my favorite uncle has to say about me . . . I'm ready . . . ."  To which I replied . . . 

What can I say? Some of the best qualities a good human being can have reside in the DNA of Jimmy Larkin: intelligent, ethical, loves fun, charming, affable. When Mike and Kevin were dating daughters of Hollywood legends, Jimmy Larkin was a legend, a singing legend, searching, reaching, finding a voice, multiple voices, learning that his natural voice, the one given to him by God, was his most influential. Inspired by his legendary grandfather, Jimmy sought legendary status in his writing talents and found out a lot quicker than most, a lot quicker than me, that his skills and his genius could not be contained by or wasted on licensed liberals standing behind the podiums in university classrooms. His essays always celebrated the heroic, using precise and penetrating prose and word combinations that evoked beauty with a rhythmic, sing-song quality. Okay, let's review: legendary singer. . . , a Hemingway. . . , did I forget anything? Ah, I did. Jimmy was, and he probably still is, a legendary wide receiver, and holy James Naismith!, a competitor in basketball. I kid you not. On the football field, he had moves like Fred Biletnikoff and Steve Largent.  It was a spring afternoon at El Encanto Park on the rim of the San Gabriel Riverbed in Duarte. I quarterbacked, and Jimmy raced, like a quarter horse. I threw 50-yard bombs, leading Larkin a good 3 to 5 steps, and he'd pull in the pigskin, one-handed most times, left-handed sometimes, over two clinging defenders, flailing wildly at the ball. It was stuff that legends are made of. I'm telling you. Jimmy Larkin is a legend. And why wouldn't he be? The man is blessed. He possesses that enviable quality of likability. Stop and think for one moment and try to find somebody, anybody who doesn't like Jimmy Larkin. Go ahead, I'll wait . . . . It's not possible; that person doesn't exist. Simon Cowell of American Idol has to audition just to get a chance to sit at the same table to sip a Guinness and savor a cigar with him. That was then, and look at him now. That charisma has attracted a beautiful wife and a family, adding one, two, three little kings, turning that tall father into a gentle and humbled servant.

Some of the most memorable and deep conversations that I have ever had with family have been with Jimmy Larkin on topics that ranged from writing to politics to love. A man with real poetic sensibilities. As I look at that picture, I love the fact that my arm is around his shoulders, and his is around mine for time immemorial.