“Well I am as hurt and shocked as if I have lost a family member. 
Leslie and I had a special bond.  I think the world felt they had a special
bond with him.  I know people always say, ‘Oh, they will be missed’ but in this
case that could not be more true.  He will be missed by everyone who knew
him personally and by everyone who was entertained by him.”
– Dolly Parton remembers the great Leslie Jordan.

I ended last week’s column mocking a friend who terms 99% of the news as “heartbreaking”.  A few hours later, I felt part of my heart actually break when I got a call that Leslie Jordan had died in a tragic car accident.  I did what I always do – I tried to make sense of it.  I looked for details, for answers.  But there are no answers…none that would change the outcome.  I find it staggering that someone who had survived everything from homophobia, alcoholism, addiction, the AIDS epidemic and a pandemic would not survive a drive to work on a Monday morning.  Although the cause of his single-car collision is still unclear (popular opinion assumes a medical issue led to his losing control of his vehicle), I feel we should celebrate all he accomplished.  From his scene-stealing performances, cult status, Emmy win, social media following, and FOX sitcom, he was at the peak of his powers.  While he would have enjoyed all the tributes from celebrity friends, Leslie would want to be remembered for two things – for providing love and light to so many people.  My heart might be a bit broken, but the light will always remain.

My friendship with Leslie made it difficult to do last week’s Billy Masters LIVE.  I had planned to chat with singer-songwriter Gabe Lopez (who was the opening act for Belinda Carlisle’s mini US tour) and radio personality and voice-over legend Ben Patrick Johnson.  But Leslie had died just a few hours earlier, so that had to be addressed.  I reached out to many of our mutual friends, most of whom were too upset to appear.  Special thanks to my twins, Gary and Larry Lane.  We were all friends and they worked with Leslie many times.  So I was grateful they stopped by to share their memories.  I’m not sure about the details of this week’s show, so I’d recommend you subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube.com/BillyMastersTV or just check out BillyMasters.com/TV.