my dear godfather jerry cohen passed in may of 2022. it would’ve been his 84th birthday today he was my friend & mentor for as long as i can remember. there are so many jerry stories & if you know me, you knew jerry! jerry met my mother Linda in the mid 60’s in LA. she was waitressing at conrad’s at the counter & jerry happened upon her station. apparently bing crosby was also at the counter vying for her attention. jerry and my mom remained in contact until she passed in 2017 my mom’s trajectory in life was very difficult and yet filled with music and the cast of characters that were drawn to her. jerry was a presence from the time i was born until the moment he passed. being with him in those final hours were the most important, precious moments of my life thus far... he often told the story of my mom calling him from vegas to inform him that i was born. she said “ i got a red head!” and jerry’s reply was “it’s from the rust!” my sister was born 8 years prior. classic jerry joke. jerry was there for us at every holiday even when things were very challenging around the house. jerry would say every christmas “ i know this family and they have a kid about your age. she’s not as smart as you or as talented. however, will you accompany me to toys R us and help pick out a toy for her? she’s a kid in need & for consulting on the matter, you are entitled to one small gift as a finders fee “ so, we’d go to toys R us and i’d carefully select a gift for this unknown child and then for myself a small item maybe a pack of stickers. come christmas morning under the tree was this gift for a stranger that was actually for me! i played along with this game for years until eventually we graduated to the virgin mega store or tower records where jerry would let me pick 5 CD’s BUT they had to be from the jazz section ! as a 10 year old my CD collection was pretty impressive. the first record Jerry suggested i get was charlie parker with strings and then the sounds of 66 Live at the sands hotel. continued in the comments below ...