Editor’s Note: We will be honoring the life of Skip Sheffield throughout the week and will compile photos, stories, and memories of our beloved Entertainment Columnist. We have received photos, and letters like the one below since Saturday morning and we will begin to publish these online. We will print a special edition honoring Skip with some of his best stories, and letters like the one below. If you, or anyone you know, would like to share with us a story of you and Skip, please email us at pheizer@bocaratontribune.com. Send your photos, stories, and anything else you would like.
By: Kay Renz
It’s funny how some people play a role in your life and it is not until they are gone that you realize how much you have shared. When I woke up the other morning to the news that Skip Sheffield had passed, I was flooded with memories of the many ways Skip had been a part of my life.
When I began as the fashion and beauty writer at The Boca Raton News back in the mid-1990s, Skip was one of the first people to greet me. I was instantly engaged by his warm smile and twinkling eyes. He, of course, along with Vin Mannix, was an icon in the community, a person I had read for years and now actually sat next to in the office. Skip was charming, self-effacing and was always there to help me, whether guiding me on the best approach for an interview ask or wading through some of the crazy politics in the office. Through a rather turbulent decade of the Boca News, we always tried to make each other laugh as we moved from office to office.
When I hung up my byline to enter the PR realm, again Skip was again a part of my life. From the launch of Arts Garage and The Wick Theatre, through the recent opening of the Pompano Beach Cultural Center, he was such a huge supporter.
During our relationship in these later years, I understood on a deeper level why he was so respected in the industry. Skip truly cared about the arts, he was a champion of the creatives and someone who critiqued through kindness. He honestly wanted to see all the shows and performers flourish as he himself had an artist’s soul.
The loss of Skip Sheffield is a huge one for Boca Raton and the South Florida arts community–opening nights will not be the same without him.