{"id":216128,"date":"2026-05-01T00:14:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T00:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/216128\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T00:14:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T00:14:22","slug":"tim-jackson-former-morristown-councilman-artist-and-early-nyc-glam-punk-drummer-dies-at-77","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/216128\/","title":{"rendered":"Tim Jackson, former Morristown councilman, artist, and early NYC glam\/punk drummer, dies at 77"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Painter<\/a>Painter Tim Jackson at Meet Me in Morristown, July 27, 2017. Photo by Katharine Boyle<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

For years, Morristown residents knew Tim Jackson as a councilman.<\/p>\n

But he marched to the beat of a different drum in his youth.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Tim Jackson. Photo courtesy of Beth Jackson<\/p>\n

Jackson, who died Monday at age 77, was a glam\/punk drummer in The Stilettos<\/a> with Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, before the pair started churning out hits as Blondie, according to Jackson\u2019s former wife, Beth.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very interesting \u2014 he lived in the Village when he was in his 20s, with all the artists,\u201d and partied with the likes of Andy Warhol, she said after Tuesday\u2019s council meeting, where Mayor Tim Dougherty gave an emotional tribute.<\/p>\n

Jackson\u2019s last chapter was colorful, too.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 tormented at first, then brimming with rediscovered life.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Artwork by former Morristown Councilman Tim Jackson. Courtesy of Beth Jackson<\/p>\n

\u201cHis left-hand drawings are fluid and warm and do not have truck with that former exacting state of mind. They are full-heart expressions,\u201d his friend Joel Glucksman said in a 2016 PBS profile<\/a> of Jackson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like it better. It\u2019s very free,\u201d Jackson said of his southpaw style.<\/p>\n

Art flowed in his veins: His parents, Byron and Kathryn Jackson<\/a>, were authors of Little Golden Books, a popular children\u2019s series.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Kathryn Jackson at her desk, ca.1965. Photo courtesy of the Morristown & Township Library.<\/p>\n

Briefly, he studied art at the Pratt Institute. But Jackson was a free spirit who preferred the Bohemian lifestyle of New York\u2019s early \u201970s punk rock scene, where he was known as \u201cTot\u201d or \u201cToth\u201d \u2014 possibly a reference to his passion for Egyptology. He could read hieroglyphics, Beth said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>KING TOT: Tim Jackson in his punk rock days, when his nicknames were Tot\u201d and \u201cToth.\u201d He loved Egyptology, and could read hieroglyphics, according to his former wife, Beth, who supplied this photo.<\/p>\n

A 1977 album cover he painted for the rock band Suicide appears in the recent Bruce Springsteen biopic, Deliver Me From Nowhere, Beth said.<\/p>\n

Alas, free album art and drumming at CBGB and Max\u2019s Kansas City \u201cdidn\u2019t butter the biscuit,\u201d and Jackson eventually became a computer technician, Beth recounted.<\/p>\n

Still, he occasionally dusted off his sticks to jam with local guitarist Douglas Savides on the Morristown Green, or outside the former C\u2019est Cheese shop on South Street. Sometimes Beth sang with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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!\u201d she said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Album cover by Tim Jackson; it can be glimpsed in the recent Bruce Springsteen biopic, \u2018Deliver Me From Nowhere.\u2019 Photo courtesy of Beth Jackson<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Tim Jackson. Photo courtesy of Beth Jackson<\/p>\n

Jackson, recognizable around town in his signature black bowler hat, was involved in \u201990s grassroots efforts to save the venue, now the Mayo Performing Arts Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very much a part of the early days of the Community Theatre, and he worked very hard,\u201d even painting the lobby, recalled concert promoter Don Jay Smith, a central figure in those efforts.<\/p>\n

Dougherty remembered Jackson as an advocate for tenants\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

But it was the monthly poker games that the mayor will never forget.<\/p>\n

Dougherty choked up recounting how his introduction to politics came around a card table in the 1990s with then-Mayor Norman Bloch<\/a>; Michael Fabrizio<\/a> of the fledgling Morristown Partnership; Bill Needham, husband of then-Councilwoman Theresa Needham; local attorney and neighbor Mitch Cobert<\/a>; and Jackson.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Tim Jackson. Photo via Facebook<\/p>\n

\u201cThe passing of Tim Jackson was the final one in that group of guys that influenced me in a lot of different ways\u2026 and that\u2019s why it means so much to me,\u201d said Dougherty, who graduated from the poker table to the zoning board, council and now, a fifth term as mayor.<\/p>\n

Beth remembered Jackson calling her one night from the basement of Morristown\u2019s Kellogg Club, where he had parlayed a couple of bucks into hefty winnings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Artwork by former Morristown Councilman Tim Jackson. Courtesy of Beth Jackson<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, honey, don\u2019t worry, I\u2019ll be home soon!\u201d he said, inventing a conversation as a ruse to quit while he was ahead.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he wanted to be remembered for his dedication to the town, as a champion of people,\u201d especially people on the fringes, Beth said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe always\u2026 was completely approachable by anyone in town.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson is survived by a daughter, Jennie. A memorial will be held in the near future, Beth Jackson said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Artwork by former Morristown Councilman Tim Jackson. Courtesy of Beth Jackson<\/p>\n


\n Morristown has a long history of people stepping forward in pivotal moments. \n <\/p>\n


\n When you chip in to Morristown Green, you\u2019re helping your neighbors stay informed, strengthening our civic backbone,
\n and carrying on the spirit that\u2019s defined this town since its earliest days. \n <\/p>\n


\n Rally for local news. \n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Painter Tim Jackson at Meet Me in Morristown, July 27, 2017. Photo by Katharine Boyle \u00a0 For years,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64193,85229,9,56,63,65,64,7666,28036],"class_list":["post-216128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-morristown","tag-morristown-council","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-obituary","tag-tim-jackson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}