“Lynn Shelton & Marc Maron #2, Saguaro Ribs, Arizona” © 2021 Stu Jenks, 64 inches tall.
Price: $295, shipping included in the price. Simply contact me via my email address at [email protected] or Facebook message me, if you would like to purchase one of my pieces. Payments can be made with Paypal, Venmo or credit card with Square. All pieces are signed with its title, and can be hung from the wall. Love y'all, Stu. (This piece is no longer for sale.)
I've met Marc Maron a couple times at small shows in LA where he was workshopping his next stand-up comedy hour. Much like his persona on his podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, he is anxious, sweet, grouchy, delightful, talented, intense and kind. (A friend's wife had committed suicide the day before I saw him in LA. He was very compassionate to me in the ten seconds that we talked before his gig.) Actually, Marc doesn't have a persona. Marc is Marc wherever he goes. It's why we love him so much.
I've been listening to WTF pretty much since the beginning. His twice-weekly conversations with good folk has gotten me through hard times. His podcast always delights me, uplifts me, makes me laugh. I never fast-forward through his initial 10 minute rant before the show. Sometimes, that's the best part. And Marc is an amazing interviewer. He actually listens to people and you can tell.
Marc has been married twice and has had his share of drama in his romantic relationships. So have I. So have we all.
Then he met Lynn Shelton, the amazing director/writer/actress/filmmaker. After a bit, when they were both single at the same time, they fell in love. I was so happy for Marc that he had found true love with Lynn, someone who fully grokked him. He, like I, are acquired tastes. It takes someone special to find us delightful. Lynn found Marc a delight, as Alexa my wife finds me. I'm a lucky man. Again, Marc and I aren't friends nor acquaintances. I just listen to his show and watch his work on TV. But I was very happy for him. (You really feel like you know the dude if you've listened to him twice a week for a decade.)
Then, last year, in May of 2020, tragedy struck. Lynn died suddenly of an previously undiagnosed leukemia. It happened fast. One day she was here, a few days later, she was gone.
I had recently had my own radical prostatectomy cancer surgery and I was slowly healing up from that, when I read the news on my phone. I literally said out loud, "Oh no! Marc! Oh, no!"
Marc grieved in public on his podcast. He was honest with his feelings with all of us. He stayed sober. He inspired many with his expressions of grief. We all were moved.
So I made Marc one of my walking stick/wall pieces and mailed it to him. Sadly, the stick got snapped in half in the mail. Yeah, I know. Sucked. I thought I had packed it well. Guess not.
I looked around my studio and found these saguaro ribs. This will work nicely, I thought. Two saguaro ribs married together. It even kind of looks like Marc and Lynn, at least to me. I haven't mailed it yet to Marc or maybe I'll sell it instead. Marc doesn't live or die over getting some of my artwork. It's truly the thought, the thinking, the caring, that counts.
We love you, Marc.
Thanks for all that you have done for me and for many others. Your light shines brightly in this world, even when you yourself doubt its strength.
Stu.
P.S.: End Times Fun is a master work, and Sword Of Trust always makes me cry. I miss Lynn too. JDFD.
Photo of Marc Maron and Lynn Shelton by Greg DeGuire.
#marcmaron, #lynnshelton, #stujenks, #extendedfamilyseries.