Have you seen Jimi Hendrix? He’s in Elmira, NY. It’s a fact. I met him myself. At least he might think he is. And, over 5,000 people agree with him.

I was in the mall, and there he was, bopping and grooving to some unheard music. He smiled. I said hey, and we talked for about five minutes. It was immediately apparent that this was an interesting man. Challenged and imaginative. Lighthearted and a bit enchanting.

I admit it, the thought popped right into my head. I couldn’t help it. He had the smile, the eyes, the hair, the music, and the jean jacket! This guy was Jimi Hendrix, or at least he seemed to be.

A few months later I’m crawling around on Facebook and find an entire page dedicated to this guy. To the Jimi Hendrix of Elmira, New York. I hadn’t just bumped into a character, I met a local Legend.

Thousands of people recognize this man as Jimi Hendrix. They greet them on the street. They take their pictures with him. They talk with him and eat meals with him. And they share it online with each other. An entire community built around one simple, interesting man.

I don’t know Jimi’s real name. And honestly, if I did I wouldn’t share it in this article. While this fandom of Elmira Jimi’s is a beautiful thing, it has a gray side. Some people feel like Jimi is treated like a “circus animal”. People using him for photo ops, and Facebook posts. Perhaps it’s not possible to have fame of any kind without some exploitation.

A few years back a collective of people worked to connect Jimi with his lost son. I remember reading through the posts. The son himself was posting in the group. I remember another person saying to him “We love him, don’t expect too much.”

I can’t pretend to know him as it seems many people do, but it seems evident in a quick conversation that Jimi has a fantastic perspective of the world. He sees things in a brilliant imagination of private planes, and cops and robbers. Wild stories and elaborate plans. There’s no doubt to me that it’s this dramatic perspective of Jimi’s that makes him so intriguing.

Born and raised in Upstate New York, Mathew lives in a wooded valley north of the Susquehanna River with his wife and kids. His first book "Simple Sutras" was published in 2014