Remembering Friends: Jack Nimitz
Many of you have heard these stories before but many havenātā¦ So, here is anotherā¦.
It was just another after noon in my new shop in the Valleyā¦ I did not have many clients and did not have anyone famousā¦ My friend at the time Bob Sheppard was not yet famous and he gave my number to Jack Nimitzā¦. well, Iām setting in the shop and the phone ringsā¦ of course I pick it upā¦ the guy on the other end says āWho is thisā .. Not being the smoothest person at the time (I sense like Sheldon am a total joy) I said āWho the hell do you want to talk to?ā he said this is Jack Nimitz and I want to talk to Rheuben Allenā¦. I am now so far in the hole I said āLet me see if he can come to the phoneā.. waited a few seconds and tried to disguise my voiceā¦. Iām pretty sure Jack knew what I was doing but came in anywayā¦ I worked on his horn and he played it and I guess liked it then leftā¦. He did start coming backā¦. He was my first big name client in LAā¦..
Right off the bat I liked Jackā¦. He was salty and would say just what he wantedā¦. Great qualitiesā¦.
One afternoon he came close to closingā¦ I worked on his sax and he said āwould I like to get something to eatā¦. I said yes and he informed me we were going to have Sushiā¦. Now, being a country boy for Oklahoma the thought of eating raw shit did not really appeal to me very muchā¦ but Jack said I would like it so I went alongā¦ well of course they have tempura and I did not know that so I was safeā¦.
Jack made me try a lot of raw stuff some were not very good to me but to my surpriseā¦.I donāt like Tuna salad, Tina fish but raw Tuna was greatā¦.. it was my favorite raw fishā¦. Jack was very nice and let me order the Tempuraā¦.
By the way I am hooked on hot air friesā¦ Ā My friend Greg Huckins gave me a Hot Air Frier for my new house warming giftā¦. I get the Arbyās fries from the frozen food sectionā¦ I cannot get enoughā¦ I am eating some now while I write this and got side trackedā¦. back to the story!
Several weeks Jack had a session and I was working on his sax and he could not pick it up because he was waiting for a deliveryā¦Jack already told me his dog Romeo would not let anyone come in the house so he would meet me at the doorā¦ I got to the house and walked up to the front door and rang the bellā¦ Jack opened the door and Romeo just came out and let me pet him and was very friendlyā¦ Jack said he couldnāt believe it and I would need to watch his house if he went on the roadā¦ and I do a couple timeā¦..
I really enjoyed hanging out with Jack and was hit very hard by his deathā¦
P.S. Four out of the five guys in this section were my repair clients…..