This past December, Julie Jenkins uprooted her life in the Los Angeles community of Venice and began a cross country journey that will eventually land her in Manhattan’s upper west side. I have read that when writing a novel it can be helpful to look at the plot as a highway and the characters as the vehicles traveling on that highway. This metaphor has additional relevance as it applies to the character that is Julie Jenkins. I thought it might be helpful for our readers who have taken an interest in her exploits to examine the central protagonist in this drama that she is calling Cheesecake, Blues and my Journey across America. In this the first installment, we will look at Julie’s life. I think people should know a little more about the person rambling across the back roads of America this winter on a cross country odyssey that is uniquely Julie.

It might be noted that Julie Jenkins has lived a charmed life. True that. I however would contend that she has forced her life to be charmed. I don’t think this is an insignificant distinction. She has willed herself to live her dreams. Julie understands how valuable time is and hasn’t wasted a moment of that precious commodity. As she has reminded me on more than one occasion, “I feel like I have lived eight lives. If I were a cat, I would be worried.” The seemingly relentless pace, in which she hurdles herself through this world, has become an inspiration to many and, at the very least, a fascination to countless others.

When I first met Julie I was standing on a two and half foot stage in Long Beach, California. I  was helping to prepare that stage for a blues concert I was producing. Julie, who I had been corresponding with for some time, walked up to the foot of the stage before the show and said hello. I jumped off my perch to shake her hand and thank her for coming to the show. My initial reaction was that by doing so I had somehow contracted my spine, as I was looking at her at eye level. The first thing out of my mouth, I would hear repeated many times by others in the past few years, “I didn’t realize you were that tall.” She laughed and said, “I get that a lot.” She has literally and figuratively kept me on my toes ever since.

As our association continued, I realized we had a lot in common, not the least of which is Julie’s love of writing. The inexorable enthusiasm with which she does everything, and her willingness to express her feelings without reservation has endeared her to folks from all parts of the globe. She has become a sort of a cyber social networking, folk heroine for our time and place. It is another time and place that has led Julie to a pilgrimage of the soul and to the heart of America’s musical heritage.

Julie Anne Jenkins was born on July 22, 1956, in Huntsville Alabama. She moved as a young child to what she considers her home town, Los Angeles.

Julie was raised by show biz folk. Her father Herman Schwartz and mother Jeanne Liebler were both actors who met in New York. Her father used the stage name Hal Willard to avoid the anti-Semitism that was not entirely uncommon in those days. Her parents however divorced and Julie was raised by her mother. Her mother was also a fashion model and all around free spirit. It was that spirit and her love of blues music that Julie gives much credit for helping to mold her world view. “My mother was actually friends with Billie Holiday.” Julie told me recently. “She often would wear a gardenia in her hair as a tribute to her old friend.”

Following in her mother’s footsteps, the young Californian studied drama and acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute in Hollywood. It was, however, music and musicians that intrigued her the most. She worked for a while in various capacities at the Musicians Local #47 in Hollywood. It is here that Julie came into contact with musicians, famous and not so well known. “These artists would leave me front row tickets to their concerts when they were here in L.A. It was great to hear and experience music close up.”

It was not in her hometown, but the home of the blues, New Orleans where Julie had an epiphany that set the wheels in motion for her present journey. “I was traveling by myself, which is something I often do, as you know. I went into this nightclub that was playing blues music. I stood in the very back of the room against the wall. Part way through the performance the saxophone player wandered through the audience while still playing and came up to me and played right next to me. I felt like I was three feet off the ground. It was like a spiritual experience.”

She went on to say, “I started listening to music that was identified as blues music more often at this point. Up until then, I listened to everything. My favorites as a child growing up were everybody’s favorites I suppose, the Beatles and Motown. It was just good music, still is. I don’t think people identified or thought about what genre a certain song fell into, you either liked the song or you didn’t. When I started hearing blues however there was a certain familiarity that I felt comfortable with. I think that came from my subconscious as I heard that music growing up around my mom. You are not going to hear blues music in your everyday life under normal conditions. Like you have said many times Dave, it is music that you have to find, it won’t necessarily find you. You have to seek it out. That is the reward.”  

I asked Julie if there was one artist who stands out as someone that when heard for the first time, she knew she was hooked. Without hesitation Julie said, “Howlin’ Wolf...There is something about his music that gives me a sensual stirring. There is sort of a mysterious romanticism that is absolutely intoxicating. When I hear blues music in general I just want to throw my arms around someone. Who doesn’t want to feel that way?”

If we are defined by our endeavors, than being the mother of four children and immersing your life into their well being, is an aspect of Julie’s life that can’t be overlooked. Even in L.A. there are PTA meetings, Campfire Girls and a need for room mothers.

Her day jobs back in those days not only included working at the musicians local but also teaching and nursing.  Julie taught theatre in Los Angeles. She told me the most rewarding work outside of raising her four ‘magnificent children’ was as a nurse. At various times she worked as a nurse with migrant farm workers and with unwed teen mothers.

Over the past five years she has worked as a nurse for a gastroenterologist in Beverly Hills. As Julie puts it, “I have seen every asshole in Hollywood.  It was like being on the set of a situation comedy. The set and the cast remained the same each day but on every shift we would have a different celebrity guest star. Colonoscopies are an incredibly important procedure that saves lives but I never found this work to be as rewarding as working with the underprivileged.”  

A big part of Julie’s life has been as a caretaker to a dear friend and musician Eric Lowen, of Lowen and Navarro, who has been suffering with Lou Gehrig’s disease. For the past four years, Julie has devoted many hours of her busy schedule each week to be at the bedside of her friend. As much as Eric appreciates her help and companionship, Julie has told me many times, she feels like she is the beneficiary of this association. She told me once, “I get so much out of this, I feel selfish.”

Julie was the first “guest writer” at BLUES JUNCTION. What caught my eye in her rather diverse resume’ was that she, at one point in her life, had done stand up. I wasn’t looking for a comedy writer but someone who was smart. I can’t imagine a more challenging writing assignment than putting together even just a few minutes of standup. I asked Julie recently how that aspect of her life came about. She explained, “I was trying to raise a family. Having to be gone for auditions, rehearsals and performances just didn’t work for me. On the other hand the writing and execution of comedy material is something I could do on my own time. The writing aspect of doing standup made me want to pursue that craft further. This led to writing workshops and a more thorough exploration of the discipline.”

As her kids grew up and into adulthood, the pull of blues music drew her back into that world. Julie sought out the live experience and communal spirit that is often imbibed in the places where this music is played. On a map those places are fairly close to Beverly Hills but they couldn’t be further apart.  Babe’s and Ricky’s Inn was just such a place. It was a joint where she could get a soul massage, almost any night of the week.  The warmth and matriarchal spirit of Mama, the proprietor of Babe’s and Ricky’s, turned out to be a significant component of Julie’s affinity for blues music. She began to befriend several of the musicians who played in the small south central Los Angeles nightclub. She felt that she was part of something larger. She became part of that blues family, in whom many of us find comfort.   

It was the love of her biological family that led to the quest in which so many of us have taken a keen interest. I asked Julie what makes a middle aged woman want to sell everything or practically everything she owns, leave her career as a nurse and travel cross country to New York. She was quick to point out she gave away her possessions. I should have known this as I spend a great deal of time behind my laptop that is but a few feet away from a large painting of Miles Davis Julie gave me on her way out of town. She went on to say, “It is my love of family. I want someday to live close to my grandkids. I had to get this out of my system. As you and I have talked about many times Dave, we have both had our fair share of tragedy. We have been close to people who died when we were fairly young. They didn’t have the chance to do what I am doing. I am doing it for me and I am also doing it for them. I am only 55 years old. We only have so much time. If not now, when?”

“Once I made the decision to quit my job and move to New York, I was gone in six weeks. I felt I was not in control. It was like I was being pulled by a machine or something. The trip has become more emotional than I expected. It has become an otherworldly experience. I feel very fortunate to have this experience and to share it with others.”

“I vividly remember a conversation I had with my brother in 1969. We were speculating what the world would be like in the year 2000. He thought that perhaps medical science would have extended life expectancy to about 300 years or so. He went on to say, “There still would not be enough time do all the things we would want to do.” That conversation has stuck with me and has been kind of like my mantra throughout this wonderful life.”

- David Mac

Editors Note: In the February issue of BLUES JUNCTION you can read Part Two: The Journey

(All photos courtesy of Julie Jenkins)