"Emmy winning writer Jac Flanders, would probably qualify as a "raconteur par excellence.""

I looked up the French word "raconteur" in the prestigious Petit Larousse dictionary and one of the definitions was: "Personne qui a la manie de raconter." In other words, someone who exhibits a strong desire to recount stories. Perhaps, it would have been appropriate to add the name of Jac Flanders after this definition.

Emmy winning writer and once personal assistant to Jerry Lewis, Flanders, would probably qualify as the "raconteur par excellence." His slender book entitled What I learned On The Way Down is a compilation of personal anecdotes and philosophical musings.

Much of the first part of the book recounts the author's many near death and dare devil escapades parachuting out of airplanes. The latter part comprises some of the author's editorial contributions to the Ranch & Cove and Del Mar Times. Both of these publications are distributed in the San Diego area.

Flanders effectively maintains the reader's interest with his folksy writing style and his poignant assessment of what life is all about. He best sums up his philosophy when he quotes his grandmother who told him repeatedly, "Son, you can do anything you want. I believed her. Admittedly, I could have used a bit more guidance."

As for his relationship with Jerry Lewis, the author is careful to avoid gossip, and if you are looking for any juicy tidbits pertaining to his former boss, forget it. However, we do get some interesting insights as to how Flanders met Jerry Lewis and how, until today, he remained friends with a celebrity whom he describes as "the last of the living legends."

Perhaps, by now you may be wondering who is Jac Flanders and how did he get his Emmy? As he recounts, he has been asked this same question many times. He paraphrases the question as follows: "who the hell are you to get an Emmy? Were you on television? I never saw you on television, you can't be that big a deal. And since they didn't really want to know in the first place, that's usually the end of the Q&A."

The Yiddish and German word for someone who is kind compassionate and reliable is the word "mensch." When you finish reading this delightful little tome, you come away with the feeling that Flanders is not only a good story teller but also he fully understands what it is to be a "mensch."

Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Posted November 7, 2002

Summary

Jac Flanders spent much of his life in the shadows - of superstar Jerry Lewis, as his personal assistant, as Editor of a San Diego newspaper and magazine, and as an Emmy winning writer of the acclaimed television series "Desperate Passage."

Still, Jac has often been in the right place at the right time. His three thousand foot fall into a freshly plowed field was all about timing.

He describes years spent on the road with Jerry Lewis in such spirited detail, you'll almost believe the memories are your own. Jac recalls meeting Robert Kennedy in the very spot where a week later Sirhan Sirhan took the candidate's life. He recalls the emotional moment when Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin reunited after twenty years of silence. He recalls a time when three martini lunches were the norm and no one could have believe that kids would one day carry guns to school.

Jac delivers these sometimes funny, sometimes sad and always heartwarming stories from and "everyman's" perspective. In the end, What I Learned on the Way Down is an unexpected treasure of stories told by someone who humbly admits he was just along for the ride.