By Steve Date

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During my visit to the Gauntt house in 2010, Casey, Brittany and her husband, Ryan Kirby, sat down in front of my camera and told stories about Jimmy.  It turns out that what Casey had told me the previous October in Coalwood was only the beginning of the story.  There was much more to tell — unlikely intersections of people, places and events.   Some of these “coincidences” were downright unbelievable.

Hilary was the most reticent of the bunch to appear on camera, but toward the end of my stay, she mustered the courage to tell the story how the Paul McCartney song, “Let It Be” had surprisingly entered her life on a trip to Belgium about 9 months after Jimmy died.  Hilary’s written version of the story appears on another page on this site.  I reminded Casey a few months ago that I had filmed her telling that story 4 years ago.  I sent him the unedited video clip and told him how beautiful I thought Hilary’s telling of the story on camera was.  He was wowed when he saw it and immediately said that we should make a movie out of this.

So we did, and here it is.

Let It Be: A Mother’s Story

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Author Bios

Write Me Something Beautiful Authors - Casey and Jimmy Gauntt

Casey Gauntt

is a retired attorney and former senior executive of a major San Diego real estate company. He lives in Solana Beach, California, with his wife, Hilary. Casey grew up in Itasca, Illinois, graduated Lake Park High School in 1968, and received B.S., JD and MBA degrees from the University of Southern California.

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Jimmy Gauntt

was born and raised in Solana Beach and graduated from Torrey Pines High School in 2002.   A prestigious Trustee Scholar at the University of Southern California, he majored in English and Spanish. He authored six plays, five screenplays, and a multitude of poems and short stories. Beginning in 2010, the USC English Department annually bestows the Jimmy Gauntt Memorial Award—aka “The Jimmy”—to the top graduates in English.  Jimmy passed over to the other side in 2008 at age 24.

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