I am not a person that seeks out trends, and I am not Mr. Comfortable in front of the camera, in or out of Con Life I say that to let you know where I am coming from. The recent news of Jason David Frank or JDF passing, it was a kick in the gut for me as it was for others, but for me, it comes from a celebrity I saw change in ways both good and bad, and no chance at reconciliation, and a reminder that we need to look after ourselves and each other.
Approximately, twelve years ago, I began my new journey in the Con Life as an entertainment writer for what was then Examiner.com. Thanks to Jerry Milani who gave me two of my first big breaks into this new world I was given two celebrity interviews in two years at the venue formerly known as Wizard World. My first famous person was the mighty Lou Ferrigno. The second was JDF, The Green Ranger, Tommy Oliver, or just plain old Jason David Frank.
I talked to JDF while was on the treadmill. We did the interview and covered such subjects as his faith, his love of fans, and being a Power Ranger. During the interview, he heard me mention I had kids, and after the formal part of the interview, he asked me my opinion on being the father of a daughter, as at that time, he was having questions. I conversed with him for a little bit on this, and after having a discussion about families and prayer I rang off. Soon after the interview was published, I was asked to be the moderator of his panel at the upcoming show.
Although it started a bit rocky, he asked me to stay at the dais with him to help him not miss any fans and to maintain a little order. Except for a few pranksters running the Ranger’s comm beep into the ground, his crowd was well-behaved. Jason David Frank only missed two fans himself, and after all of the folks asking questions, I thought that was a pretty good run for such a popular celebrity. The following day I took some pics of him at his kid’s karate class/demonstration. He seemed to be made for the Con Life.
He was quite at ease with his young fans and their parents, and after speaking to him briefly at his table before I left the show I was left with an exceptional impression of the Power Ranger known as JDF, and added him to a list of second interview requests.
Two years after, I was able to interview Jason David Frank at a press get-together for Wizard World. With changes happening fast in the comic convention world I was doing an article concerning corporate involvement in comic cons. JDF gave me some good quotes and was amicable as always, and stated we should keep in touch.
The occasional holiday text and his agent sending me schedule updates. Also, there were the occasional friendly jibes via his Instagram page where he shared antics with his daughter and his fans. Here and there I heard some rumblings that he was having some issues but figured it was just Con Life rumors and they would straighten out.
A few years later, I had been writing for ViralHare, and an opportunity to interview Jason David Frank again for the new con, Fandemic, became available. I requested it, and it was a fun interview. I was able to utilize my interview approach to ask new and fresh questions, (something he had encouraged me to do during previous interviews and occasional con run-ins), and was able to represent JDF and the upcoming Power Morphicon.
After the formal interview ended, I told him I was thankful he was safe after his stalking at a con by a crazed fan and was told he appreciated my prayers. Reconnecting in our Con Life was a good thing. Or, so I thought.
He then asked me to be an informal part of helping promote Power Morphicon, since it was in my neck of the woods, and to get involved with the community. I jumped at the chance.
Fandemic was not a good show for me, and during the interim before my involvement with Power Morphicon, I was advised by some of my contacts that I needed to be careful dealing with JDF because Jason David Frank was no longer the nice, but, extra hyper nice guy. He had become a bit of a self-serving jerk. I politely ignored the info and went about my business, and began communicating with Jason David Frank about working with the city of Pasadena, TX. In my Con Life arrogance, I never thought to send him a message to check on him or ask if he may want prayer. I conned myself in my own Con Life and took things for granted.
The initial ideas we had were shot down by the public library, however, there were several other city offices that were interested in some sort of community activity that would act as promos for the show. However, after being shot down by the library and asking for help for the other community activities I was eventually given the silent treatment, and then politely advised by someone with either JDF’s or the Morphicon camp to lay off.
So, the word I had given, with the blessing of the Green Ranger, to make connections for the Morphicon promotions dried up on the vine, and I had to spend some high-usage time on the phone to apologize for not being able to help connect with JDF. At this time I grew a nice amount of disdain for Jason David Frank and even went out of my way at times to avoid local cons and events where he was supposed to appear.
Even after COVID had stopped blocking such events, rather than being in the same physical space I felt avoidance was better. I forgave him and made sure to include his name in con promo articles if he was attending a show.
I spoke to some of my contacts about some mutual shows and the subject of Jason David Frank came up. People were mentioning that he rarely spoke about his faith anymore, and he seemed even more distant and arrogant than he had been. I had hoped there would be a show where I could see him in person and attempt some sort of reconciliation because I felt any calls I made would be ignored.
But, as most of the pop culture world knows, that time will never come now. I have recently suffered a few losses already, but this one hit me to the point the-what if’s have been eating at me like Rita Repulsa’s Anti-Ranger acid.
The self-blame, the guilt, and the sadness have hurt hard since I got the news. But, I also realize that there were people surrounding JDF that he could’ve pulled on. And no matter the feelings I had about his faith walk, that was between him and his God. Not me and JDF.
Seeing someone that was so full of drive and ambition at the end of life in this fashion is never a good thing. But, know that no one is impervious to hopelessness, despair, or grief. If The White Ranger can fall then any of us can.
Take stock of your mental health, get help if needed and keep pushing forward. Help is here,https://afsp.org/suicide-prevention-resources
Or here: https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/resources/index.html
Grab hold and don’t let go.
