Season 3. Episode 20. Road To Europe
This the Lizard King man. this is a poet who spoke to me in a way that no one has before or since. The fragile wild child, who after the strange days of his life, sailed his crystal ship to the other side. This is Rock ’n’ Roll holy ground man.
This weekend was Nature Festival throughout France. On Sunday, I decided to take advantage of one of the several walking tours offered by the city to learn more about the biodiversity in Père Lachaise. I hadn’t been there for a couple of weeks, so I was happy to be back and see the cemetery from a new perspective. As usual, before leaving, I went by Jim’s grave to see what was going on and to take some pictures.
I discovered, to my consternation, that the perimeter around Jim’s grave has just been expanded on the left side (if you’re facing the grave), thus distancing visitors even further from the grave.
Graffiti has always been omnipresent at Jim’s grave. To combat this activity, cemetery officials petitioned off his grave with a ghastly metal barrier in 2004. And now the situation just got worse.
I sympathize with cemetery officials who undoubtedly struggle with the conundrum. I think we can all agree the barrier is counterproductive. What to do? Enclose Jim’s grave in glass like Oscar Wilde’s? Add a note, “Do not touch,” like Allan Kardec’s?
I fully understand people’s desire to leave a mark of passage or messages for Jim. If only it were possible to somehow encourage visitors to leave mementos instead of defacing neighboring gravestones. I’ve seen such lovely and thoughtful items left on Jim’s grave. It’s a terrible shame that visitors don’t make this choice more often.
 March 1991 © Jörg Hensel |
 April 1992 © Jörg Hensel |
 October 31, 1998 © Francisco de Borja Gonzàlez |
 September 2001 © Graham Mills |
 August 2005 © Eva Castro López |
Australian born, Jim moved to America with his parents in 1979. He began his career in comedy in Dallas, Texas and now resides in San Francisco.
Jim Short was deemed one of the “Talk of the Fest” performers at 2004’s Montreal International Just for Laughs Comedy Festival. He has appeared on Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend”, Shorties Watchin’ Shorties, as well as “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”, NBC’s “Late Friday”, and A&E’s “Comedy on the Road” and “The Late Show with David Letterman”. He was recently the winner of the 29th Annual San Francisco International Comedy Festival.
He has toured throughout the United Sates with an act comprised of a mix of personal observations on pop and social culture, world media and history, and television and music references. See schedule for up coming performances.
Source: www.jimshort.com
