Jerome L Blair (1906 - 1987)

Around 1960 Jerry put in a swimming pool in their back yard. Also around that time Jerry had become friends with the earliest commercial vintners of the Napa Valley, the Christian brothers and Robert Mondavi, all of whom resided less than a mile from his house. Of course they convinced him of the profitability of planting his acres of wildflowers and pasture land with grapes.

When the swimming pool was completed Jerry had two huge wine barrels brought in from Mondavi's which he made into a dressing room and a storage room. I can still remember the delicious smell of the inside of those huge barrels. The surface of the interior felt like rough sandpaper, they were so covered by sugar crystals embedded in the oak (a result of the fermentation process). When you changed into your bathing suit you were enveloped in a luscious grapey environment..... I never wanted to leave.

I also remember going with my grandmother, George and mom to see Jerry & Cee for dinner at their home. Jerry was talking about his mom Miriam, she would have him take her to see "mystics" is how he put it. They would go to seances, and psychic readings. Jerry did say he was in his mid teens at the time. My grandmother was the same way. I don't know if you know that when Miriam passed she was no longer Jewish but a Christian Science.

Janice Tully-Gann neice

To me my Uncle Jerry was a figure larger than life. He had fabulous stories, and of course, he was always the central character. He had done everything, been a logger. He had been a bootlegger during prohibition, and spent time in San Quentin Prison when caught at it. He later owned a bar with a giant fish tank behind the bar where a woman dressed as a mermaid swam around. At that bar he also served bananas, that when unpeeled were already sliced. Later in life, he made business connections in Japan. When he came back from a business trip in Japan he spoke of how people were amazed at his size (he was around 6'2"). He spoke of staying at the house of a friend, while they were walking around in a fish market the friend's wife pointed to some crustacens and asked him how many of them he could eat for dinner. He thought she was pointing to some crayfish, and he said, "oh about 12". "Oh my!", the wife responded in amazement. When Jerry and his friend came home for dinner there were 12 lobsters waiting for him to eat! I loved Uncle Jerry for his amazing stories and sense of humor, but as a shy child I also felt entirely intimidated by him......Years later a boyfriend and I had gone camping at Clear Lake. We were on his motorcycle so we were taking the back roads.....We had just gotten really high when we came to Calistoga, and I suggested we take the Silverado Trail. As we passed Jerry and Cee's house I tapped his shoulder to point it out. My friend, asked if I wanted to stop in for a visit. But I was so high I didn't think I could handle seeing them stoned. I always regretted not stopping in and making a connection with him as a "semi" adult.....The stories he could have told me about his family.....if only I had asked.