by Tom Warner (Accelerated Decrepitude)
Jackie Nickel (1942-2007)
My friend Scott Huffines’ mom, Jackie Nickel, passed away on Friday, August 17, 2007 at the age of 65 after a 6-year battle with cancer. All of us expect death as part of the birth-school-work-death cycle, but it always comes too soon. Jackie’s was too soon.
Jackie was the coolest friend’s mom I knew. She worked, for one thing, which was unlike other moms. And she worked hard, leaving behind several books and a writing leacy at the Essex Avenue paper. What I liked best about her was that she was truly interesting. You didn’t just make awkward, polite small talk with her, as you did with other parents. You had real conversations, because she was fun to talk to. She knew everything about Essex and most things about Baltimore and Maryland. At parties at Scott’s, I didn’t just say Hi and Bye, but would seek her out to talk about the Essex Cube or Precious the Skateboarding Dog or the proposed Essex Raceway or the inside dirt of local politicians. She was on top of everything and she was sharp. Just like a reporter. Just like a writer.
And Jackie treated everybody the same, regardless of who they were or what their title was. Whether she was talking to John Waters (as pictured below) or a local councilman, a next door neighbor or one of Scott’s weirdo friends (and there were many!), you were just people to Jackie.
Continue reading “A penny for your thoughts. A Nickel for your memories.” at Nickel For Your Memories.
