JimmyR's Wired World

My best friend from high school, Joe Duncan, passed away last week after a battle with cancer.

Joe pretty much saved my life when my family moved South in 1967 to a small town in Arkansas where they seemed not to have noticed that the Civil War had ended 102 years previously.  To this scared and nerdly culture-shocked kid, Joe was a bright spot in my otherwise dark life that first year.  He lived two houses down, and though I used to like to walk to school, I would ride with him in his mother's car when the weather was bad.  The first bell would ring at 8:00.  I would go to Joe's house, his mom would say "You better wake Joe up," so I would and he would get up, stick a toothbrush in his mouth while he was pulling on his pants, and we'd be out the door.  As one who has to get up early to prepare for my day, I was continually amazed at his 'hit the ground running' ability!

We both shared a passion for rock-n-roll, and we learned to play together as he gave up guitar for the bass, on which he excelled...just ask anyone who had the pleasure to play with him over the years.  His sense of timing and counter-point was impeccable, and he always had that tone!

We grew up riding motorcycle, chasing girls, and doing all the bad stuff boys love to do.  Both of us attended college at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro (or, as Joe would say, "Jone-bur"), renting a house with our friends that became party central.  It's a wonder we never got arrested.....

We both had big rock-n-roll dreams, but Joe met the woman of his life in Carol a few years into college, and he found that the lure of home and family won out over rock-n-roll craziness, and when I moved on to Memphis in 1976 to pursue fame and fortune, he stayed behind in Jonesboro where he lived and raised his kids along with Carol.  He continued to play music, but as a passion, not as a living, pretty much as I do now.

We used to call each other on our birthdays every year, but we let it slip the past 5 or 7 years, and we pretty much lost touch.  I guess this is a lesson to me to not take your old friends for granted.  I didn't know about his cancer until less than a month before he passed on.

So Joe, my friend, I will cherish your memory and all the wonderful things you meant to me in my young life.  When I play my guitar, there is always a part of you there, making a beautiful noise along with me.  Rest in peace.