Corpus Christi, Texas promoter Jerry LaTouf, president of the 14,000-capacity Concrete Street
Amphitheater, was found dead in the afternoon at his home May 5. LaTouf suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes, reports the Caller Times. He was 49.
Regarded as a hard-nosed businessman, LaTouf also had a softer side. He was
recently elected president of the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity, was a regular
at the Loaves & Fishes homeless shelter serving meals to the homeless and
helped many of the people with whom he worked.
Credited with bringing top talent to the amphitheater, including
Willie Nelson, Rob Zombie, Kenny Rogers and the Counting Crows, amphitheater
owner Dusty Durrill told the paper LaTouf " had a talent that won't be replaced
easily. He was just a genius at putting together events, and he loved doing it. I
couldn't believe what you have to do to accommodate artists," he said. "I can't step
in there and talk to the same people Jerry talked to and convince them of
anything.
The amphitheater will stage its full season, which runs through October, while a
search for a new president will begin immediately.
"I think the city's lost more than it's realized," Durrill said. "People looked at him as
being a promoter, but he was just such a nice gentleman."
