I met Jimmy Tayoun exactly one time in my life.
And I still remember it.
The legendary Philly pol died this week at 87.
Most will remember the longtime dealmaker and Democratic powerbroker - he served in the state House of Representatives as well as Philadelphia City Council - for the fact that he went to prison on a corruption probe. He even wrote a book about it, chock full of advice to other pols who might find themselves staring at a stint behind bars. Given the city's penchant for elected officials running afoul of the law, it's a wonder his tome, aptly titled "Going to Prison?", wasn't a best-seller.
If there was a big political deal being made in the city, Jimmy Tayoun's fingerprints were all over it. He was one of those larger than life, Philly originals.
But that's not why I will remember him.
Besides being a raconteur, politico and consumate dealmaker, Tayoun was something else.
A journalist.
He had a journalism degree from Temple and actually worked at the Daily News.
After he got out of prison, he did something every journalist dreams of - but very few actually do.
He started his own newspaper, The Philadelphia Record.
That's what brought him to the event I was attending at Widener University.
It was a seminar for business people on how best to use the media.
Tayoun was there and actually sought me out. He told me he was familiar with my work and admired what I did.
I was flabbergasted.
He also was fascinated by my plunge into new aspects of the media, including social media, and in particular the new-fangled thing I had been dabbling.
That would be this blog, the Heron's Nest.
As a newly minted publisher, he wanted to pick my brain on the business and the struggles we all faced. I ate it up.
I told him to feel free to reach out if there was every anything I could do.
I'm doing that now, honoring a true Philly original.
RIP, Jimmy Tayoun.
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