On Missing Jimmy Buffett: That One Hurt a Lot More Than Expected

No celebrity death has ever hit me as hard as Jimmy Buffett's. Mr. Rogers' and Dr. Seuss's came very close. Well, Ray Bradbury's certainly did, but I knew the man. He was both a mentor and a dear friend. I told him that I loved him, and he told me the same. But I only met Jimmy Buffett once, and I'm pretty sure that of the two of us, I am the only one who remembered it. I actually cried real tears when I heard the news that Jimmy Buffett had passed away, and I'm not even sure I can articulate why.