By Janet Rosequist

By now, unless you’ve been living like the Unibomber, you know about the passing of Jimmy Buffett on September 1st. He was 76.  The death of the beloved musician and song writer triggered countless heartfelt, even emotional tributes.
Among the Granite Staters remembering him was a man from Nashua, who wrote Buffett’s hit Broadway musical, ‘Escape to Magaritaville.” Mike O’Malley was “a kid” when he first saw Buffett perform in Portsmouth. Decades later he would work at his side. What he most recalls now is his work ethic and kindness. He is one of many.

Buffett’s career was remarkable. So was his life and example beyond his stardom, as many are now recalling.

He performed live for over half a century. He recorded 30 studio albums, as well as 14 live albums. He sold over 20 million records (a number sure to increase with the release of  his posthumous album ‘Equal Strain on All parts.’)

He performed nearly 2,000 concerts, selling out many. Beyond his musical career, Buffett was an accomplished author. Three of his books made the New York Times Best Sellers’ List.

Amidst this, he found balance. Despite commitment to performing, he made it a point to find time for fun. He was a sailor. His day job in Florida when he was getting his career off the ground was as first mate on a yacht owned by industrialist Foster Talge.  He has owned several sailing yachts in his lifetime. The most recent, ‘Drifter,’ is a 50 ‘ motor sailing yacht custom built by Pacific Seacraft.  Buffett was also an experienced pilot. He often flew himself to concerts. He owned a succession of planes including a Grumman Albatross, a Boeing Stearman, and Cessna Caravan.  He also found time to surf, fish, dive, and travel.  All of these experiences inspired his music.

Jimmy opened a t-shirt shop in Florida in 1985. This evolved into his first restaurant, ‘Margaritaville,’ in  Key West. He once said he started the restaurant so that he would have a place to play if his singing career went down the tubes.  The initial venture evolved into a chain of successful restaurants, resorts, casinos, cruises, and more. At the time of his death, Buffet’s net worth approached $1 billion. He is thought to be one of the wealthiest musicians on the planet.

While all of this is truly remarkable, Jimmy Buffet the man is more impressive. Happy to admit the role his share of luck played, his work ethic and honesty played a larger role. Despite his ‘five o’clock somewhere’ image, he was an intensely hard worker. He applied these qualities to his music,  his businesses, and his relationships. He was rewarded with a long musical career, robust businesses, and healthy relationships with his wife of 40+ years, his children, siblings, and friends (not to mention his 6 dogs).

Jimmy Buffett was a kind and generous man. He was happy to share the stage with many others, eager to shine a light on others whose talents arguably surpassed his, sometimes personally introducing opening acts, a rarity in that business.

Off stage he was gracious and interested in those around him, be they acquaintances or people he met on the street. He was philanthropic, and had a particular fondness for manatees, and helped to found the Save the Manatees organization over 30 years ago. He performed numerous benefit concerts for a variety of causes.

His personal happiness may be attributable to his ability to remain loyal to himself, while not taking himself too seriously. He was confident but often self deprecating, and always grateful for his good fortune His first album was appropriately titled ‘Down to Earth.’ Jimmy was an optimist, a glass half full kind of guy. (“It takes no more time to see the good side of life than the bad.”) This remained true even in his last days, as he battled cancer.

Perhaps the thing I most admired about Jimmy Buffett was that he fully grasped and mastered the carpe diem philosophy. This too was reflected in his music – take ‘I Love the Now’ or ‘Breath In, Breath Out, Move on.” He didn’t dwell in the past, or worry unduly about the future. He lived in the moment in a way that didn’t abandon responsibility (a few youthful indiscretions aside).

James William Buffett lived a big life, no doubt. His greatest success was not so much what he did, but how he did it. He showed that nice guys don’t always finish last. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment was that he remained a good man – in spite of his success.