From the desk of guest blogger Augustus Mayhew, a local author and historian:
 Jimmy Barker and Alex Fatio Taylor, April 2009. “You know, Jimmy knew everybody,” said Alex. |
Jimmy Barker’s life has always been more about the art of living in Palm Beach rather than the price of it, so I doubt anything could have ever compensated him for the loss of his friend and the sense of place he lost forever in last year’s fire.
His aesthetic cache reflected his legion of friends, most now gone, except as they were brought back to life when he talked about the paintings, sculptures, books, letters, sketches and photographs that he kept in all the rooms of his house, much like a museum of Palm Beach’s social history.
Months after the fire that destroyed all of it, when he invited me to walk-thru the house, I was surprised to find it unchanged, as if the fire happened the day before; not an ash had been moved.
 Main staircase, after the fire. |
He stood for a photo in front of the charred fragments of his ceramic Staffordshire dogs, as if they were still on the shelves behind him. He talked about a portrait, as if Barbara Whitney was coming for cocktails at five.
As much that can be said for all of his priceless relics and his Wyeth-designed house, Mr. Barker would probably be the first to give it all up tomorrow, if only to share moments with the people who were his life, a reminder that the history of Palm Beach is as much about the remarkable people who have lived there, and Jimmy Barker is one of them, as the houses and buildings that remain after them.
Photos here courtesy of Augustus Mayhew
Related Links
