James Edward Reynolds, Jr., musician and longtime writer for several local news magazines, died at his home in Birmingham on August 16, 2023. He was 68.
He was predeceased by his parents, James Edward Reynolds, Sr., and Mary Eloise Kennedy Reynolds. He is survived by his siblings, William Kennedy Reynolds and Mary Leslie Reynolds Holliday, three nieces, three nephews, three great-nieces, and four-great nephews.
Edward, as he was known to his immediate family, was born in Selma, Alabama on January 3, 1955. At Selma High School, Ed played baritone in the marching band and continued to perform with the Auburn University band after entering college in 1973. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic design from Auburn in 1978 and moved to Birmingham soon after. He worked as a staff writer and editor in two popular Birmingham alternative newspapers, Fun & Stuff, and then for 15 years at Black & White where he wrote hundreds of interviews, features, and regular columns. In addition to his day job, Ed worked as a freelance writer for such publications as Oxford American, First Draft, and Birmingham Magazine. Among his numerous interviews, profiles, and eulogies in Black & White were many people whose careers Ed admired, like musician Tiny Tim, journalist Gloria Steinem, comedian Lily Tomlin, and NASA flight director Gene Krantz. Links to his writings can be found here.
Ed was deeply fascinated with space and NASA all his life. He couldn’t get enough and devoured books, magazines, tv shows, websites, and documentaries on the subject. “It’s the reason I decided to become a writer: so, I could attend launches at KSC,” he wrote, after getting to see the final space shuttle liftoff at Kennedy Space Center in July 2011 as a credentialed member of the Atlantis press corp.
While he penned newspaper copy, he also wrote and played music in the Birmingham rock and newly-breaking alternative music scene. Ed said that he heard the Vienna Boys’ Choir in Selma when he was seven or eight and was “smitten.” His tastes varied widely from deeply religious hymns and Sousa marches to rock ‘n’ roll and country (he adored George Jones), but always underlying his preferences was a strong, expressive melody line. Ed had a natural authority about what sounded good and how a song should be played, and increasingly, as he gained talented musician friends around him, how a piece could be produced to bring out its best qualities. He learned how to play guitar with his friends at Auburn and played in several Birmingham bands from the late 1970s including the Invaders, the Lucky Bucs, the Ticks, the Worms, the Dandelions, Karnival Season, and the Happy Burnells. He also collaborated with various local musicians by playing on their recordings. Ed developed a large portfolio of original songs, some published in recordings with the Invaders and some written for his band the Ticks, many recorded, but not always published.
The loss of Ed – and his talent and drive to create, his generosity, and his unique voice, so direct and perceptive – is felt by his family, friends, and hundreds of people around Alabama and beyond – those who were close to him for decades and those acquaintances who only knew him from his enthralling stories he shared in the time they were together. We will miss him.
Please consider making a donation in Ed’s name to the Greater Birmingham Humane Society.
Edward’s memorial and a celebration of his life will be held at WorkPlay, 500 23rd St. South, Birmingham on Sunday, September 10th @3:00-600 pm.
Professional services entrusted to W.E. Lusain Funeral Home and Crematory, Birmingham, Alabama.