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Honoring a lost local treasure: Tim Jaynes

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Contributed by: Susan Griswold on 5/15/2008

Manitou lost a local treasure in early April with the passing of Tim Jaynes. Locals knew Tim as a fixture at the Manitou Springs Public Library. Most mornings he was the first patron through the doors. He read the newspapers and played Jumble and Cipher, competing with a friend to see who would solve the puzzles first. The library posted a weekly weather forecast that he compiled from The National Weather Service. He had a strong back to help the librarians move heavy objects. His loud, infectious laughter brightened the library, though sometimes it irritated serious patrons. The library seems empty without him.

Tim was the ultimate recycler. He collected aluminum cans and discarded food from dumpsters. He often told me that he could teach me how to live and seldom if ever have to buy retail. He purchased few items, making do with things he found. If someone needed something repaired, Tim usually could come up with the part or make it from things he'd found and saved "just in case". His friends will miss his "dumpster recipes" and the finds that he would give them - a lawn chair and table, a shelf or lamp that had been discarded, but that he had repaired and made serviceable again. I remember Tim telling me that he'd had a good day. He'd found two discarded cases of Diet Pepsi that was "only recently expired". Tim would give his friends restaurant reviews depending on what he found in their dumpsters. A gourmet restaurant that usually had little food waste started having a lot of wilted vegetables and pizza boxes in their dumpster so Tim decided that the food was going downhill, the employees were ordering pizzas instead of eating at their place of employment and the wilted veggies indicated that business was slow. In the summer of 2005 Tim and a bear had staked out the same restaurant dumpster. Tim was going down the alley in the dark early morning hours. As he was about to peek in a dumpster, a large brown bear stood up from inside the dumpster and scared him. Tim backed off. After that he said he started shing a flashlight down alleys before he entered them, banging his walking stick on the pavement and calling out, "Bear. Bear." The bear eventually won the battle for the dumpster.

Tim was an astrologer. He worked on natal charts, read the I Ching and rune stones for a surprisingly diverse group of people. Socialites to "regular" folks came to Tim for his predictions and advice. Probably his willingness to listen and disperse common sense was as much his appeal as was his mystic connection. When things went wrong, he would start his explanations with, "Well, Mercury is in retrograde..." He was extremely knowledgeable of all religions and could quote a phrase pertinent to any discussion or question.

Something most people didn't know about Tim is that he earned a Ph. D. in botany from Purdue University. He received a Masters in horticulture from Penn State and his bachelor's degree from Colorado State University. In 1971, he and O.E. Nelson published a paper on invertase sucrose and maize which is still used in teaching college level botany. He taught at Purdue University and the University of Nebraska.

Tim was also a master gardener. He worked for local landscapers as well as being self-employed. He successfully propagated tomato seeds left from his meals to grow amazing tomatoes in a greenhouse he made from using discarded glass storm doors. The interior of his home was a virtual forest of orchids.

Tim was a gentle, thoughtful man. He had several friends whom he cared for, making sure they had food, transportation to doctor's appointments, the post office and bank and free lawn care. He performed these caring acts without fanfare and when he couldn't be there in person, he made sure that he had someone to cover for him.

Tim was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 9, 1942 and passed away in early April, 2008. He was a Manitou resident for 38 years. A true Manatoid. He will be missed.

The Manitou Springs Public Library is taking donations to purchase a book in his memory. Anyone interested in making a contribution may contact them at 685-5206 or go to the library at 702 Manitou Avenue.

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