"Now tomorrow," Joe Buck wrote yesterday, "I want you to focus on just as many good things that Tybee Island has that makes you love the place."Well Hell!
I've got homework for the first time since I was in school a thousand years ago.
Normally I blow off "special requests" and go wherever the Spirit leads me.
But it's freaking Joe Buck III and I can't blow him off.
Currently Joe is the President of the School Board and was a Dean at Armstrong State University and the head of "Leadership Savannah" ... which is where I met him when in an apparent complete lapse of enforcing admission criteria he let me in.
Through the ensuing years he became a mentor and friend.
When he completely lost his mind and decided to run for President of the School Board I was one of the people he explained why.
Patting him on the back I told him, "That's is great Joe!"
Quietly I thought, "He's lost his frigging mind!"
Since then he's been the greatest School Board President since ... well ... ever!
I owe the man ... A LOT! ... so I got to do what he says and list the things I love about Tybee.
But before I get around to the things I love about Tybee, I can't help but remember when we were graduating from "Leadership Savannah" and we'd already put Joe through a lot ...
we are the only class to be banned from an airline when Dr. Stephen Acuff took over the plane's microphone ...
this was after the previous night when several "Leaders" took over the D.J.'s booth at the sheik Washington D.C. night club "Deja Vu" led by Fran Howard so we could repeatedly dance to the B52's "Love Shack" ...
and I'd utterly offended our guest speaker the Congressman by asking, "What do you mean Jesus can't be painted as a heroin addict? You don't think Jesus doesn't love addicts?"
Anyway ... we wanted to do something nice for Joe for teaching us leadership skills so Patrick O'Conner, Esq. lead us to get tickets, hotel rooms and primo parking for the Auburn homecoming game.
Joe is a huge Auburn fan!
So we did.
It was the first time Auburn lost a homecoming in ... well ... ever.
I love Joe and almost felt his pain that day.
Now to Tybee ...
But then Joe almost died ... a couple of times ... which scared the hell out of lots of us because he is one of Savannah's special gifts.
It's not so much the city he's impacted but thousands and thousands of its people.
Joe Buck has changed lots of lives and made them better and I'm the first to admit I'm one of them.
That's why I've got to write about the things I love about Tybee Island because it's Joe that asked for God's sake!
Oooops!
Sarah's up.
I gotta go.
