Painter Tim Jackson at Meet Me in Morristown, July 27, 2017. Photo by Katharine Boyle
For years, Morristown residents knew Tim Jackson as a councilman.
But he marched to the beat of a different drum in his youth.
Tim Jackson. Photo courtesy of Beth Jackson
Jackson, who died Monday at age 77, was a glam/punk drummer in The Stilettos with Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, before the pair started churning out hits as Blondie, according to Jackson’s former wife, Beth.
“He was very interesting — he lived in the Village when he was in his 20s, with all the artists,” and partied with the likes of Andy Warhol, she said after Tuesday’s council meeting, where Mayor Tim Dougherty gave an emotional tribute.
Jackson’s last chapter was colorful, too.
He had loved to paint intricate, mosaic-like scenes hinting of religious symbolism. After a stroke paralyzed his right side, he learned to draw with his left hand. The results were evocative reflections of that journey — tormented at first, then brimming with rediscovered life.
Artwork by former Morristown Councilman Tim Jackson. Courtesy of Beth Jackson
“His left-hand drawings are fluid and warm and do not have truck with that former exacting state of mind. They are full-heart expressions,” his friend Joel Glucksman said in a 2016 PBS profile of Jackson.
“I like it better. It’s very free,” Jackson said of his southpaw style.
Art flowed in his veins: His parents, Byron and Kathryn Jackson, were authors of Little Golden Books, a popular children’s series.
Kathryn Jackson at her desk, ca.1965. Photo courtesy of the Morristown & Township Library.
Briefly, he studied art at the Pratt Institute. But Jackson was a free spirit who preferred the Bohemian lifestyle of New York’s early ’70s punk rock scene, where he was known as “Tot” or “Toth” — possibly a reference to his passion for Egyptology. He could read hieroglyphics, Beth said.
KING TOT: Tim Jackson in his punk rock days, when his nicknames were Tot” and “Toth.” He loved Egyptology, and could read hieroglyphics, according to his former wife, Beth, who supplied this photo.
A 1977 album cover he painted for the rock band Suicide appears in the recent Bruce Springsteen biopic, Deliver Me From Nowhere, Beth said.
Alas, free album art and drumming at CBGB and Max’s Kansas City “didn’t butter the biscuit,” and Jackson eventually became a computer technician, Beth recounted.
Still, he occasionally dusted off his sticks to jam with local guitarist Douglas Savides on the Morristown Green, or outside the former C’est Cheese shop on South Street. Sometimes Beth sang with them.
“We would put out a little donation thing for the for the Food Pantry. We basically would tell people that if they donated, we would stop playing!” she said with a laugh.
Album cover by Tim Jackson; it can be glimpsed in the recent Bruce Springsteen biopic, ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere.’ Photo courtesy of Beth Jackson
When Debbie Harry and Chris Stein performed at the Community Theatre, Harry gave Jackson a shoutout from the stage and they reminisced afterward, Beth said.
Tim Jackson. Photo courtesy of Beth Jackson
Jackson, recognizable around town in his signature black bowler hat, was involved in ’90s grassroots efforts to save the venue, now the Mayo Performing Arts Center.
“He was very much a part of the early days of the Community Theatre, and he worked very hard,” even painting the lobby, recalled concert promoter Don Jay Smith, a central figure in those efforts.
Dougherty remembered Jackson as an advocate for tenants’ rights and rent control over three council terms from 1996 to 2007, and for art shows at the Morris County Library to raise awareness about strokes and recovery.
But it was the monthly poker games that the mayor will never forget.
Dougherty choked up recounting how his introduction to politics came around a card table in the 1990s with then-Mayor Norman Bloch; Michael Fabrizio of the fledgling Morristown Partnership; Bill Needham, husband of then-Councilwoman Theresa Needham; local attorney and neighbor Mitch Cobert; and Jackson.
Tim Jackson. Photo via Facebook
“The passing of Tim Jackson was the final one in that group of guys that influenced me in a lot of different ways… and that’s why it means so much to me,” said Dougherty, who graduated from the poker table to the zoning board, council and now, a fifth term as mayor.
Beth remembered Jackson calling her one night from the basement of Morristown’s Kellogg Club, where he had parlayed a couple of bucks into hefty winnings.
Artwork by former Morristown Councilman Tim Jackson. Courtesy of Beth Jackson
“Okay, honey, don’t worry, I’ll be home soon!” he said, inventing a conversation as a ruse to quit while he was ahead.
Born in Morristown, Timothy Jackson was raised in New York. He returned here, Beth said, to care for his ailing mother, who died in 1985. He passed at the Morris View Healthcare Center in Morris Township.
“I think he wanted to be remembered for his dedication to the town, as a champion of people,” especially people on the fringes, Beth said.
“He always… was completely approachable by anyone in town.”
Jackson is survived by a daughter, Jennie. A memorial will be held in the near future, Beth Jackson said.
Artwork by former Morristown Councilman Tim Jackson. Courtesy of Beth Jackson
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