Next month,
Singing News will
celebrate 40 years of publishing. As we get closer to that milestone,
I've started to put together a few things that will spotlight some of
the names that are closely associated with the magazine, and naturally,
I have to start with Jerry Kirksey, who has been with the magazine from
Day One.
The story you are about to read originally appeared in the May 1999 issue of
Singing News.
Jerry and his wife, Carolyn, were featured in that issue's "At Home"
article and of all the things people remember most about that article,
his tale about the day he almost became a meal for some hungry sharks
still gets chuckles today.
After two years of dating, Jerry
Kirksey and Carolyn Rhodes married on October 1, 1967. "Life hasn't
been the same since," laughs Carolyn. "I can honestly say that there's
never a dull moment when Jerry's around. He's always into something!
But, I wouldn't trade him for anything - even if he says I tried to
feed him to the sharks."
Jerry explains, "We hadn't been married
too long and we were visiting my sister in Jacksonville, Florida. My
sister's husband, Ken, was a jet jockey in the Navy and they had a big
boat, about a 36-footer job, that they used to do a lot of salt-water
fishing. We went out into the Atlantic Ocean and I'd say we were a good
12 or 13 miles from the nearest shore. Now, on that particular morning,
my sister couldn't go fishing, but Ken, Carolyn and I took the boat on
out any way to do some 'bottom-fishing.' It was little chilly that
morning, so we all still had on blue-jeans and long-sleeve shirts. But
the water was mostly calm and every now and then, we'd see a shark's
fin break through the water.
"All of us put out double-rigs
(that's two lines for you non-fishers out there) and we were catching
red snapper as we fished off the sides of the boat. I had went around
to the bow for some reason; I think it was to help Ken as he dropped
the anchor because we were getting some pretty good bites in that area
and we decided to stay put for a while.
"As I came back around
the bow to go back to the back of the boat where Carolyn was, I slipped
and went right off the side of that boat, into the ocean.
"I
still had my shoes on and they filled with water and became instant
weights. Wet blue jeans are the heaviest clothes you'll ever wear. I'm
a decent swimmer, so that part didn't bother me too much. It was the
fins that we had seen in the water earlier that made me want to get
back in that boat - and I just knew those sharks knew I was in the
water!
"Well, that boat was so big that I couldn't just reach up
the edge and pull myself in. I started hollering, trying to get
Carolyn's attention. You know what she said? Instead of 'I'll be right
there' or 'I'm on my way,' it was 'I've got a bite!'
"My
brother-in-law hears all the commotion, sees that I'm in the water, and
he starts remembering those fins ,too. He runs to the back of the boat,
past Carolyn - who's still reeling her line in - grabs the boat's
ladder and brings it over to the side where I'm at and drops it in the
water.
"I started climbing up the ladder, spitting salt-water
all the way. I get to the top and there's my beloved wife, still
cranking that reel. As soon as I get on the deck, she lands two big red
snappers, one each line. The only thing that mattered to her was the
fact that she landed those fish - It didn't matter I was almost shark
food."
-----------------------------
Nowadays, Jerry jokes
that "there are probably a few people who wish the sharks had gotten
me." Nonetheless, on May 1, 2009, Jerry will join a very elite club of
people who can claim they've held the same job for 40 years. That's no
small achievement - and for the record, that means Jerry will have
guided
Singing News through 480 issues.