IN MEMORY: James “Cliff” Davis 1958-2013
I lost one of the best friends I ever had in life this past Monday, December 9th, 2013. He departed our world near 1 that afternoon and I will miss his kindness, humor, professionalism and frank candor like none other.
Cliff Davis was closer than a brother and the first real friend I had when moving to Odessa Texas in 1980. He was my neighbor moving in about the same time to the Oakwood Square Apartments on Parkway Bluv and with pretty girl after pretty girl bringing him meals and treats I was envious of the attention. I was the new evening personality hired for KQIP FM 96.9 in Odessa, what turned out to be the ‘real life’ version of the CBS 1970s show WKRP IN CINCINNATI. Owned by a local Jewish family the former ‘Elevator Music’ went in 1978-79 and by 1980 it was coming into its own as one of the best local stations in the Permian Basin.
When I met Cliff he was a law man, a Deputy with the Sheriff’s Office at that time and recovering from wounds sustained in the line of duty some ten months earlier. He had a love for music, media and radio and I admired those in law enforcement. We hit it off immediately.
Our friendship spanned over 33 years. I saw him marry, be an instant step-father, then a father in his own right and grand parent too. Knew him from the Sheriff’s office to the Odessa Police Department during my years there in 1980 to 1990. We were business partners in a mobile DJ company called HAPPY FEET & CO., for several years playing dances at the Ector County Sheriff’s Possee in addition to pro bono and fundraisers for a wide range of nonprofit organizations and people.
In 1986 when I left Odessa for Midland some 18 miles east and joined KTPX NBC 9 one of the happiest for me was Cliff Davis. We remained in close contact with dinners, visits, and over the 1990s with vacations several times a year with Odessa as a stopover in the drive between El Paso and Dallas Fort Worth. In those years I knew Cliff as a master woodworking craftsman too. I have two of his creations in my studio office, a Texas Flag and a ‘gone to Wal-Mart’ door hanger.
I also have so many conversations and memories to savor. We were collaborators on several novels. In fact my first written in 1992 and revised several times over the decades and years since. Our last conversation was about 8 months ago and one I’ll never forget. Cliff said he always wanted to write true crime stories. He was creative enough and no doubt would have been a great writer. But he had such a big heart he made time for nearly everything but himself.
I remember the evening he called when the diagnosis of Cancer came two years ago. I was among one of the first he called on the road back to Odessa as he and his wife drove home from MD Anderson in Houston. Fortunately, I followed my heart and said everything I wanted to say. I thanked him for thirty some odd years of friendship. For the times he came to the radio station and on television commercial shoots, for the partnership in our mobile DJ company HAPPY FEET & COMPANY, for the ride-a-longs in the early 80s on his shifts, for all the Thanksgiving’s I shared with he and his parents in those years. But mostly I thanked him for the collaborations on the novels I thought I was called to write.
We continued to speak often after they returned home. At one point about a year or so ago I thought he had beat the odds with reduction in the Cancer. But after a second look the calls and contact began to change. About eight months ago they stopped completely. I knew something drastic had shifted when the facebook pages went away from his family and my calls every two weeks went un-returned. About a week or so before Thanksgiving I had texts from my cousin and others when he was rushed to the local hospital and ICU and prepared for the worst. And yet, he made a rebound before a decision to find rest at the local Hospice. And while the photos and news was good initially the inevitable notices came that life was winding down.
I thought back on the last conversation we had about eight months back. He sure got a charge out of those calls and to be called upon as a collaborative contributor in the research I was conducting at the time actually made his night as much as it did for mine. He admitted several times over the past decade how much he wanted to be a true crime writer but I think the hope he had in my career fulfilled one of his own along the way. I hope it was passed on to him in recent weeks I was naming several characters in the works in progress after him. Both a Sheriff and a Police Man in another series. His name was part of my character in the 1992 novel that may see the light of day in the next few years. SHADOWS OVER OLSON is based on a true series of crimes in Odessa Texas in 1981. He and his wife, with children and extended family make up part of that full length novel, as does a composite of myself and other journalists of the time period.
I so wish he could have seen all of them published. But he ran out of time when God called him home this week. And the world felt emptier though heartwarming at the same time that we were friends in all the best senses of the word. He was closer than a brother and I am grateful his family encouraged and allow that to transpire.
I plan to immortalize his name, both as James and Cliff Davis in the novels I have written and will write in my WIPs (Works in Progress) as well as other series and over time. He was more than a one novel friend. He was a lifetime friend and my law men should carry on his name in different characters and people.
To his wife Barbara, father Bobby Wayne, step kids, kids, and grand kids, as well as all his brothers and sisters in law enforcement I send my gratitude for their sharing of him with me as a friend over 33 years. And when it comes time I am published it will be to his memory I gratefully dedicate my books. He’s part of the great cloud of witnesses and I know I will see him again one great day to come. Thank you for being a friend Cliff. I will miss you till we meet again.
