Shakey Jake

2006-06-15 Shakey Jake

Shaky Jake died Sunday Sept 16, 2007
Shakin’ Jake was a man “on the move!” I first saw him when I was a freshman at the University of Michigan in 1974. I’ve regarded him as a street Buddha, always pretty cheerful and playfully interactive with folks on the street. He was even indirectly responsible for me meeting a former girlfriend. It was 1979, I was just walking early on Wednesday morning of the Ann Arbor Art Fair, starting on South University by Washtenaw. I saw Jake and went up to say hello. A couple of women who were busy setting up a booth looked over curiously towards us. I went over to tell them about Shakey Jake, got to talking for a while. Stopped by the booth later that day, and the next day, and the next… well you know how one thing leads to another…

2006-04-15 NPR audio story about Jake