James Earl Jones

Remembering an Icon

We lost James Earl Jones yesterday. It is difficult to put into words what the man’s work meant to me at a personal level. Like a lot of us, I grew up with Star Wars. I grew up with Darth Vader. I grew up with James Earl Jones.

And as I aged, I got to see his skills on full display. I saw him as the cantankerous old writer in Field of Dreams, the kind old man who called Babe Ruth “George” in The Sandlot, and as Admiral Jim Greer in the Jack Ryan movies. Later, I’d discover that the man had a career decades before my appearnance in 1977. I’d learn about his Tony awards, one for The Great White Hope and another for Fences. I’d even see a very young version of the man in Doctor Strangelove.

I’m tired tonight and the words I’d like to dedicate to the man fail me. But I asked Thomas Lecaque to come on at least so we could talk a little bit about the man and what he meant to us. This is a short episode, maybe something you can catch on the way to work. But maybe you’ll share some of your memories of the man and his work too.

Thanks for being here.

JWH