“Little” Jack Taylor, huge in the eyes of everyone who ever knew him, died in a boating accident Sunday, April 13 in Fernando Bay, north of Jacksonville, Fla.

While rowing his dingy from mooring to shore, the 1970s pro mogul king lost control in rough seas. He was found dead in the marshes the next day.

Jack had made his home on his sailboat “A Different Drummer” at the Dockside Lounge and mooring in Marathon Key, Fla. for many years.

Jack was sailing his new boat, “Alice,” to Maine for the season, a round trip adventure he had done many times solo.

Jack was a 1966 graduate of Portsmouth High School, in Portsmouth, N.H., and a 1970 graduate of the University of New Hampshire. He was a lifelong skier, a nationally ranked racer and a multiple winner during the 1970s pro mogul tour directed by the International Freestyle Skiers Association and the Professional Freestyleskiers Association. He won the world mogul championships three consecutive years (75, 76, 77), often comprising season stats of four wins and three seconds. He was sponsored by Bobbie Burn’s The Ski Company, Scott Boots and Spademan Bindings. He was a founding member of the “More Hair More Air” freestyle club of Steamboat and its Tequila Cup Competition.

He was a frequent visitor to Telluride in its earlier days. He began skiing the area’s backcountry in the mid ‘70s, and his team won the Lunar Cup way back then. He also won the Midas Pro Mogul event here in the winter of 78/77. Jack lived in Telluride in 1986/87 and worked at Colorado O’Willys, and many of is friends remain in the area.

Jack was a gifted person and an exceptional athlete. He played high school football and baseball, and taught, coached and patrolled in skiing. His meditations, yogas, pursuits and projects always inspired awe.

A charismatic friend and just one of the gang types, Jack will be missed by a large throng of family, friends and admirers.

Jack is survived by his mother, Alice, of North Fort Meyers, Fla., and his sister, Sandie, of Kennebunk, Maine. Jack will be cremated. Memorials are scheduled in Marathon Key, Fla., on May 3, and in Portsmouth, N.H., on May 10. Another is being planned for Steamboat Springs. For more information or ideas for the Steamboat memorial, call Jack Carey at (970) 728-4759 or e-mail Captainjack@wildblue.net.   

The flawless skier turned his white snow and surf into eternal clouds. He will be thought of and missed forever.