Jimmy Buffett and his wife Jane were on hand in New York City on Monday night at an event to mark the achievements of actor Michael Douglas:

[Douglas] was awarded the 37th annual Chaplin Award by the Film Society of Lincoln Centre for his work both in front of the camera as an actor and behind the scenes as a producer.

And, in an poignant moment, he was presented the coveted award by his father, acting legend Kirk Douglas who is 93 years of age.

The Film Society’s Annual Gala began in 1972 and honoured Charles Chaplin, who returned to the US from exile to accept the commendation.

Since then, the award was renamed for Chaplin, and has honoured many of the film industry’s most notable talents, including Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Laurence Olivier, Federico Fellini, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, James Stewart, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep and most recently, Tom Hanks.

Guest presenters included friends and previous collaborators such as Steven Soderbergh, Tobey Maguire, Danny DeVito, Erika Christensen and Barbara Walters.

A special music performance [was] provided by singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, a long-time friend of Douglas, who also performed at the actor’s wedding to Catherine Zeta Jones.

Read the full story here.

Jimmy with Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones in 1999.
Photo: Dave Allocca/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Jimmy Buffett’s sister Lucy has written an op-ed for Alabama’s Press-Register about the oil spill and tourism along the Gulf coast: ‘The coast is open for business”

The Gulf Coast is where the everyday person can play. We love where we live and are proud of it.

We get amused sharing it and seeing the surprise on folks’ faces when they realize that a little piece of unlikely paradise exists smack at the bottom of this magnificent country of ours.

So imagine our dismay, anger, grief and absolute heartbreak over the ongoing catastrophe of crude oil continuously and arrogantly flowing into our beautiful Gulf of Mexico.

This is indeed a major challenge for us physically, emotionally, environmentally and economically.

Personally, I prefer to remain positive about the oil spill’s impact, because I know mountains can be moved with a positive attitude. Why wouldn’t that work with a runaway well?

I do, however, live in a very real world, and I know that our corner of this world stands to be affected by the oil spill.

As we are called to action, we will respond with the dauntless spirit of coastal people, especially those born in the hurricane corridor. We will weather this storm as we have weathered the other monsters that have roared upon our shores in the past: by working hard, side by side, with dedication, compassion and a sense of community, and earning some fun in the process.

I am hoping that there will be little damage or interruption of beach recreation. Perhaps the oil spill will be just an inconvenience, much like too many jellyfish in the water or the occasional riptides.

If not, we are going to need everyone’s love, support and help. So I have a very special invitation for people to join us here in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach and on Dauphin Island and Mobile Bay.

Don’t cancel your plans or reservations. This could be one of the most memorable vacations you will ever have.

Most of you travel with children. What a great opportunity to teach our kids so many valuable life lessons — from the beauty of volunteering to the importance of helping your neighbor during a crisis, learning about the fragile ecosystem that created the remarkable Gulf of Mexico, and meeting new friends from all over the country with the same purpose of keeping our beautiful shores safe for our children and wildlife.

Read the entire letter here.

Lucy Buffett own’s Lulu’s at Homeport Marina restaurant in Gulf Shores. Visit their website.

While Jimmy Buffett was in Jamaica last Friday to christen the new Boscobel Aerodrome, he also hopped over to his Margaritaville in Ocho Rios to attend a welcome home party for Newton Marshall who recently completed the Iditarod dogsled race.

Jamaica’s dogsled musher, Newton Marshall, received a grand welcome Friday afternoon at Margaritaville’s Ocho Rios during a special welcome home party dubbed “Rootin’ for Newton”.

Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville is Marshall’s main sponsor and Buffet was on hand to congratulate and celebrate with the musher who became the first black man to complete the Iditarol.

Also celebrating with Marshall were entertainment, sports and culture minister Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange and Chukka Caribbean’s Danny Melvin who established the Jamaica Dogsled team and where Marshal is employed as a dog musher.

Business mogul Chris Blackwell, Margaritaville’s CEO Ian Dear and executive director Mike Shamry and St Ann Custos Radcliffe Walters and wife Norma also joined in the celebration.

Entertainment was provided by the selectors at the turn tables at Margaritaville and they included in their selection several of Buffett’s hit.

Marshall said he was pleased with the love and support he has received from Buffet and all his other sponsors and Chuckka Caribbean for establishing the Dogsled team and believing in him.

Marshall placed 47 in the 2010 Iditarod in Alaska and finished the race in 12 days, 4 hours, 27 minutes and 28 seconds.

Northern Light Media has more: “The Jamaican: Newton Marshall”

(Photo by Brian Webb)

The Jamaica Information Service has another article and a few photos from Jimmy’s flight into the Boscobel Aerodrome last Friday (see our original story from Saturday). Jimmy was the first international passenger to fly in and be processed by customs at the airport on the north coast of Jamaica:

Buffett exits the Pilatus PC-12 after landing at Boscobel

Jimmy shows off his welcome gift. With him is Youth, Sports and Culture Minister, Hon. Olivia Grange (left) and Chris Blackwell of Island Outposts

The Pilatus PC-12 that Buffett was flying is a 2010 model registered to Epps Air Service in Atlanta, GA. The aircraft was recently listed for sale but the listing has been removed. So is this another addition to Buffett’s fleet of airplanes that already includes a Falcon 900, Cessna Caravan, Grumman Goose, and Stearman? If Buffett did purchase the airplane, it will show up in registration records in the next couple months.

The PC-12 does make sense for Buffett. It fills a niche between his Falcon 900 trijet and Cessna Caravan single engine turboprop on amphibious floats. The PC-12 is also a single engine turboprop, but has a much larger cabin and can fly over 100 mph faster than the Caravan. It has excellent short field capability and would be much more efficient for shorter trips than the Falcon.

On Friday Jimmy Buffett flew the first flight into the new Boscobel Aerodrome in Jamaica. He was greeted warmly (no shots fired) by Sports Minister Olivia Grange, Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ) chairman Mark Hart, and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell:

“I just got to say what a thrill it is to come directly into Boscobel; this just makes things so much easier,” Buffett said.

He also commended the processing by immigration officials who were brought in just for the occasion, saying the experience was “lovely”.

But Buffett might have inadvertently disclosed that the expanded facility would be named Ian Fleming Airport – in memory of the creator of the famed James Bond series – who lived and penned several of the James Bond stories just a few miles away at Golden Eye in Oracabessa, now owned by Blackwell.

“It’s the ease with which you come in and go out, which this airport – which I hope will be named Ian Fleming Airport – allows,” said Buffett.

Hart later responded in the affirmative when a reporter asked him if the facility would indeed be named Ian Flemming Airport.

Grange tried to hide the revelation, butting in: “Well, we have to … we’re not going to pre-empt anything this morning. Sufficient to say we will have a name, and it will have a famous name.”

Blackwell referred to the Anguilla airport as being one that facilitates easy access by private aircraft and even smaller commercial planes, and suggested that such a model could be followed.

“When you establish something with ease to come in, it will attract people; it has a big effect on business. Any place that takes the pressure off Manley and Sangster (airports) is going to help,” Buffett said.

Grange thanked Buffett and had special commendation for Blackwell, saying:

“I want to use the opportunity to thank Chris Blackwell. He really must be commended because I remember the very first discussion about expanding the facility here and the opportunity that it will create, and in record time, it’s been a success.”

Listen to a short audio interview with Buffett here.

An interesting sidenote… the aircraft in the picture is a Pilatus PC-12. In the photo caption in the article it says the airplane is “Buffett’s private plane.” If it is indeed his plane, then this is a recent addition to Jimmy’s fleet.

The PC-12 pictured is a 2010 model registered to Pilatus so it’s possible that Jimmy recently bought it or was demoing it. Or it could be neither and he was just chartering it. If you know anything about Jimmy owning a PC-12, please drop us an email.

(Photos by Carl Gilchrist (top) and Alesia Edwards)