Jamie Best

Jamie Best died of a drug overdose this past spring. He played baseball at Lakeside High School. He had a daughter named Daphne. He didn't marry her mother, Deanne Walker, who has an identical twin (Pam). Pam and Deanne both lived in my old neighborhood. They were very quiet, Pam and Deanne, and I heard little rumors about them during high school. I don't remember what people said, but I know the rumors did not fit my conception of the girls. They were quiet.

Now Deanne has a daughter whose father is dead. I'm thinking about this without knowing exactly what to think.

Jenny Clark, with whom I had a joint birthday party (at the Watervale pool, I forget how old we were) also died in 2000. He mother, Carol, sent her condolences to Jimmy (Jamie's father). Jamie's father and mother are divorced. Carol and her husband are now divorced.

Reading the messages on Jamie's guestbook, they feel very smooth and even. This is not a cover-up. A death like his makes everything feel smooth and even, sort of build-in. Jimmy left a message on Father's day. He has joined a local ministry to help people with sustance abuse.