By Michael J. Whitlock
August 3, 2020
I heard the sad news earlier this week Jim Lane had died. I’ve known Jim for about 15 years. My interaction with Jim over that time was largely through PBT. Jim also provided some assistant to our company with cleaning up an agency we had in Parker County. I didn’t ask, Jim reached out to me to offer some assistance. That’s the kind of man he was.
In more recent years Jim and I connected over BBQ. You shouldn’t judge a man by the size of his smoker but Jim’s was much larger than mine. During the last several years, Jim and Mike Byrd would smoke up a bunch of brisket, chicken and sausage at PBT-Austin meetings following the Steven G. Whitlock Memorial Golf Tournament. Jim was a regular sponsor of SGW. He had a big heart for the pediatric cancer patients the annual event was helping.
I got my start writing bail in Dallas so I’ve always had a special fondness for Texas bondsmen and women. Jim and I are of a similar age and he was lost way too early. My heart goes out to his family and friends who lost a good man. Jim’s favorite line was, “It’s better to know him and not need him, than to need him and not know him.” Funny, sounds like something God would say.