Remembering Jenny
A few years ago I met Jenny King at a National Redken Artist Connection in Las Vegas. She impressed me so much that when I found out she was a local, I took her card and recommended her to one of our former editors, Deirdre Clemente, who had moved to Las Vegas to accept a position as a professor at UNLV and was desperate to find a good hairdresser. It was a match made in heaven. Before we went to press, Deirdre told me that Jenny died in a car accident. “Jenny was all the things that makes hairdressers awesome,” she said. I think it’s only fitting to offer this space to Deirdre in which to remember her friend:
Jenny King loved her job.
I saw it in the precision she took in shaving my crazy neckline. I saw it in the excitement with which she talked about Redken’s newest product. I saw it in how she spent 10 extra minutes teaching me how to style the kick-ass cut she just gave me. Jenny was funny and smart and generous. She was a mentor and a teacher and a friend to her colleagues. She was an artist, who left that extra piece long in the front or did a wild swath of color in the back. On a hot Las Vegas night in early August, Jenny King was killed in a head-on collision coming home from a photo shoot. All that talent, all that energy, all that Jenny King one-of-a-kind magic—gone. She was 37 years old. Jenny left behind a two-year-old-daughter, Paisley, who she raised with the help of her mother. Jenny worked long hours, stayed late and marketed herself via social media to provide for her child. I mourn for the loss of my friend and for (with the exception of my own mother) the one person I could go to who would always make me feel good about myself. She had the power to transform—and as those in this industry know, that’s the equivalent of a super hero. As so many hairdressers do, Jenny King changed people’s lives every single day she was on this earth. That’s a powerful legacy. —Deirdre Clemente
Jenny worked at LOOK Style Society, the most comprehensive beauty emporium in Las Vegas. Deirdre attended a memorial in Las Vegas on what would have been Jenny’s 38th birthday to remember the Kentucky native as a beautiful free spirit who always wanted to be a hairdresser. Friends have set up a memorial fund for Paisley’s education. For more information or to make a donation, call 702-712-4345. —Marianne Dougherty, Editor in Chief, [email protected]