Author Kathryn J Hardy answers the question, “Why Johnny and Jazzbo?”

We met Dr. Johnny Savage when my husband and I moved to the Choctawhatchee River, near Ebro, Florida, back in 1999. It wasn’t long before we met Otis Ikner. I cannot remember a special occasion or gathering Johnny has ever had when Otis was not there. We have spent many hours sitting around the fire pit on the river’s edge, listening to Johnny and Otis’s stories of adventure, success, love, and even murder. I knew then that a book of consequence was being born. So, it is with great pleasure and honor that I tell this story of two extraordinary Southern men during a tumultuous time in the history of the United States. This is a story about a time when Black people and White people did not associate in parts of the South. Many were not even aware of their differences, tucked away from the truth by the separation of towns, neighborhoods, and families. Growing up in the 1930s and 1940s in small communities shielded from reality, and with little personal contact with racial abuse, it took Johnny and Otis a while to realize the impact and horrific injustice plaguing the African American population. One of the most prodigious parts of this book is the enormous accomplishments that followed their lives during the 1960s and 1970s. In such a short period of time, relatively speaking, two very extraordinary men bonded in a then-unusual relationship. As individuals, Johnny and Otis both accepted their pasts and looked to their futures, bonding an unbreakable friendship for a lifetime. Through each other, they discovered who they were as individuals and as people, rather than by the color of their skin. Beating all odds, they were unstoppable, living their lives rather than wishing for a different existence. It is with respect to all human beings that I share the story of Johnny and Jazzbo. Their journey of life lessons created many remarkable experiences for Johnny and Otis. As they grew from young men with insatiable appetites for life, happiness, and success; each rose above troubled times to become the individuals they are today