Growing up in Fairbanks Alaska we had a few local celebrities but none as intriguing as Jaybird. Jaybird was a tall gangly guy with a big nose who I first noticed when I was eight years old dressed as a chicken mascot and parading on court during half time of a North Pole High School basketball game. He was there to promote his eatery, Jaybird’s Wing World.
Jaybird later opened another Wing World, and bought the Food Factory which was Fairbanks answer to Friday’s before the chain stores took over. This made him the richest guy in town outside of the dude who sold window stickers for pickup trucks.
I was curious what his deal was so I started asking around. At eight I figured I might cruise around with him in his convertible and wear sunglasses or something. I did not know if he had a convertible but it seemed like a possibility.
The information I got was mostly banal. He was from Fairbanks and he had some restaurants. The only detail I really got was that he was Jewish. I did not even know what this meant but I was into it because it was different. As you can imagine, Jewish people were scarce in Fairbanks, where most people identified as Christian or Wanted.
Just recently I began to wonder about Jaybird’s nickname. I assumed it was in reference to his prominent nose which gave him the appearance of a bird. His nose was indeed enormous. It was the first thing you’d notice about him. His name is actually Jay so Jaybird’s is a natural name for a chicken wing place.
But did Jaybird assign this name to himself, or was it bestowed upon him in a ribbing sort of fashion the same way we called the pale kid on our street Albino?
I would guess the latter, which looking back could be seen as offensive because of the stereotype of Jewish people having big noses. If it were offensive to anyone I would guess them to be outsiders because everyone was truly equal in Fairbanks and race or religion were hardly brought up. At least that’s how I remember it, being white and all. Plus Jaybird obviously was cool with it since that’s what he called himself.
Later I would see Jaybird advertising his Wing World on local commercials, where he would always take time at the end to espouse his conservative views on guns and immigration because fuck it he already paid $40 bucks for the ad time.
It was widely rumored that he was into cocaine. Rumors aside it did become fact that Jaybird was not above hanging out with high school kids recreationally even though he was in his thirties.
I tragically never got to drink beers with him though, because once I became old enough to be accepted by him I had decided it was a stupid idea in the first place.
Then Jaybird became a national 15 minutes of fame talking point.
He appeared on Good Morning America and announced he was living in New York to find a Jewish wife and take her back to live with him in Fairbanks. The fact that he was a Jewish guy from Alaska was a novelty that was captivating on a national scale. Just being from Alaska and juggling could score you air time. This was before there were shows on the History Channel about Alaskan people doing normal jobs in the cold.
Most people in Fairbanks seemed indifferent to his antics. He later returned home without a wife because usually those with strong cultural affiliations don’t want to move to remote parts of the wilderness. Especially with guys named Jaybird.
After I left town he was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives and served three terms. Then he ran for Lieutenant Governor and lost in the Republican primary.
After initially thinking Jaybird was awesome when I was eight, and later believing he was totally lame when I was a super cool 6’4″ 132 pound high school freshman I have come full circle.
Even if I don’t agree with his political views, I have to respect the path taken by this guy, born and raised in Fairbanks, who turned out to be a huge success.
What I am trying to say is, I desperately want to hang out with Jaybird and will have my agent call Jaybird’s Wing World to get in touch with him immediately.
Great last two posts. Thanks for laughs.