Before John Kilzer became a singer and songwriter, he was widely known as one of the top high school basketball recruits in the nation during his playing days at Jackson Central-Merry.
“I knew John wanted to play on the national level,” said Bill Hamilton, a Jackson businessman, “He had the shooting touch … just not the speed.”
A 1975 JCM graduate, Kilzer, 62, who passed away Tuesday, would sign to play his college ball at then-Memphis State University, where Hamilton served as a manager of the school’s football program, but also helped with the basketball team.
“He asked me if I would introduce him to Bill Cook,” Hamilton said, “He respected Bill Cook, who was a freshman at Memphis State in 1972, and member of the team that lost to UCLA in the 1973 NCAA finals in St. Louis.”
But what Hamilton remembers most is when Kilzer entered the ministry.
“That’s the amazing part of his life – how he turned it around,” Hamilton said, “His destiny on earth was to direct people with his ministry. He served the underserved … he was willing to minister to them.”
Kilzer’s passing made news nationally – and internationally.
The Daily Mail in London was just one of numerous newspapers to report on his death.
“When you’re friends with somebody, they are just your friends, but you don’t stop to think how famous this guy was,” said NEWS/TALK 101.5 FM personality Dan Reaves, “He was such a giving person, a recovering addict who was very public with his struggles … and because he was so public, he helped so many people who also struggled with an addiction.”
Reaves said he first met Kilzer through the late Bill Way, who also worked as an on-air personality at NEWS/TALK 101.5 FM.
“That was about 20 years ago,” Reaves said, “Actually, I was a fan of John before I met him. John was a poet, a great talent who came from a great family, and I’m really going to miss him.”
Reaves knew there was something special about Kilzer’s music, when an out-of-towner latched onto a compact disc Reaves possessed.
“A friend of mine brought a buddy of his home with him from the Army,” Reaves said, “I was playing a CD, ‘Memory in the Making,’ and the guy, who was from New York, said ‘that is great music.'”
He told Reaves he had to have the song that was released in 1988, and said he would trade him a CD in his collection for it – but Reaves balked.
“He told me, ‘I’ll trade you two for it,'” Reaves said, “When I said no, he said he would trade five CDs out of his collection. All the time I was thinking, he could buy it in music stores anywhere, even Camelot Music in Jackson.”
Reaves decided to take the guy up on his offer.
“When they left town, I went down to Camelot and bought another copy of Memory in the Making,” Reaves said.
(PHOTO: John Kilzer, left, appears on NEWS/TALK 101.5 FM with Bill Way and Dan Reaves)
David Thomas, Twitter– @DavidThomasWNWS
https://www.facebook.com/NewsTalk1015/
