Ellington

As I approach the industrial-looking Old House Depot on Monroe Street, I hear the robust sound of Ella Fitzgerald's voice. Jim Kopernak, 61 (but looking 10 years younger), emerges from a small office and wipes away the sweat just above his salt-pepper-and-cinnamon eyebrows. Behind him are what seem like hundreds of vintage and antique pieces of architecture, which Kopernak and his wife, Ann, collect through deconstruction of old homes.

"One thing about this business is the whole 'green movement,'" Kopernak says. "It's just a shame and so common for somebody to re-model a home, homes they built in the '30s and '40s, and the first thing they'll do is throw out all the doors and windows … unless it gets to someone like me. We should be recycling … at least 60 or 70 percent of the materials in almost any demolition. Instead, most of it goes to the landfill."

But Kopernak wasn't always a Mississippi man collecting vintage treasures. At the age of 5, the Indianapolis, Ind., native began playing piano, "mostly the classical stuff," and discovered that he had a natural talent. When he went to high school, his life changed with the introduction of David N. Baker Jr.

Baker, a pioneer in the rite of jazz education, took Kopernak as a student and introduced him to jazz piano. "It was a real transcendent experience for me," Kopernak says. "All of a sudden being exposed to this jazz repertoire was just electrifying."

While jazz is still one of Kopernak's passions, as a friend once said to him: "If you're going to be a jazz piano player, you've got to be able to live on $50 a week," something Kopernak wasn't willing to do.

Instead, Kopernak received an English degree from Butler University in Indiana, and then joined Americorps' VISTA program. VISTA sent him to Memphis, where he worked with prisoners until he fulfilled his commitment for a year. He later attended law school at Memphis State. Kopernak first worked as a legal services lawyer, and later established a private practice as a health care lawyer, working closely with Jackson hospitals. From Memphis he made connections in the Jackson area, and finally moved to the City with Soul in 1994. After growing weary of the "antagonistic" nature of the legal practice, Kopernak took his career in a new direction, opening the Old House Depot just after Thanksgiving last year.

"It's fun to go find old stuff," Kopernak says, and all though he says that he has neglected his golf game and hasn't been fishing lately, the one thing that he likes to do most when he gets free time is "bumping around" with Ann to find neat things.

Previous Comments

ID

82653

Comment

I met Kopernak at a doctor friend's house once. I think I played basketball with him, Mel and Carl too. I had no idea of the jazz, legal services connection or antique interest. I like him better already. I thought he defended doctors or health insurance carriers. I didn't care for the type who did that. He, he.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-10-19T09:18:19-06:00