News
Hey Sailor
03/06/08
Austin Chronicle
By: Stephen MacMillan Moser
HEY, SAILOR, NEED A LIFT? I'm so pleased that the film Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry (www.horismokumovie.com) will premiere at South by Southwest. Sailor Jerry (Norman Keith Collins) was considered by many to be the foremost tattoo artist of all time and the father of modern-day tattooing, whose uncompromising lifestyle and larger-than-life persona made him an American legend. Who would have imagined that this World War II-era veteran with his deep love and knowledge of the art would have defined the look of the tattoo explosion that is predominant now? My late brother-in-law, Rollo Banks (aka Michael Malone), another legendary tattoo artist, was mentored by Sailor Jerry, and Rollo not only imagined that explosion but predicted it as far back as the early Eighties. Rollo, who is interviewed in the film before his death last year, and fellow Sailor Jerry protégé Don Ed Hardy (www.donedhardy.com), also interviewed, inherited most of Sailor Jerry's legacy when he passed (Rollo kept Sailor Jerry's shop in Honolulu on Hotel Street, where I received my second tattoo from Rollo). Mr. Hardy kept his batch of Sailor Jerry's work carefully labeled and archived, and Rollo kept his batch of Sailor Jerry's work in paper bags or laid out on the floor. Both loved and revered the man who had taught them so much. But this film premiere is not Sailor Jerry's first appearance in Austin. He arrived via Rollo in 1984, with dazzling flash and an inimitable style. This was the same trip where Rollo swept my sister, Margaret, off her feet and married her in no time flat. And that's how Sailor Jerry came into my life. In the last few years of his life, Rollo took on an apprentice, passing on lore, techniques, and designs to this younger man named Keith Underwood, who lives in Austin now. Keith and his wife named their baby in honor of Rollo: Rooster Malone Underwood. Rooster Malone turned 2 last week; he'll carry a lot of mojo with that name. And Rollo's death will have its first anniversary in April. It all seems to be coming home to roost, as it were, and that's why this film is important to me.See it at Dobie, Wednesday, March 12, 6:30pm; Thursday, March 13, 11am; and Friday, March 14, 1:30pm.
