It's the difference between lightning and the lightning bug, as Mark Twain put
it.

--- On Sun, 6/28/09, Olive Elizabeth Thomas <olive_e_thomas@...> wrote:

From: Olive Elizabeth Thomas <olive_e_thomas@...>
Subject: [TheNewCovenOfOliveThomas] McKees Rocks loses another celebrity
To: TheNewCovenOfOliveThomas@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sunday, June 28, 2009, 6:11 PM

















TV Pitchman Billy Mays was a native of McKees Rock PA. Olive, who was born
in Charleroi PA, moved with her family to McKees Rock after the death of her
father.



TAMPA - Internationally known TV product pitchman Billy Mays, who rose to the
top of his profession with a boisterous persona that touched consumers and
helped create more than $1 billion in merchandise sales, was found dead in his
South Tampa home this morning .



His wife Deborah woke up and found Mays, 50, in bed and not breathing, Tampa
police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.



He was dead when Tampa Fire Rescue arrived at Mays' house at 2853 Bowen Daniel
Drive. The time of death was reported at 7:45 a.m.



Mays had no obvious injuries, and there were no signs of forced entry at the
family's home near Old Tampa Bay. No foul play is suspected, police said.



Family members told police Mays hadn't been feeling well Saturday and that he
went to bed early, shortly after 10 p.m., McElroy said.



Hours before, Mays was on board a US Airways flight from Philadelphia that
landed safely at Tampa International Airport Saturday afternoon after its front
tires blew out, resulting in bumps and bruises to some passengers.



Mays told WTVT, Channel 13, that he got hit in the head during the rough
landing.



"All of a sudden as we hit, you know, it was just the hardest hit; all the
things from the ceiling started dropping," he said. "It hit me on the head, but
I got a hard head."



Mays, who was active on the Twitter social networking site, posted his last
update at 2:01 p.m. Saturday.



"Just had a close call landing In Tampa," Mays wrote. "The tires blew out upon
landing. Stuck in the plane on the runway. You can always count on US Air."



Any connection between Mays' death and the rough landing would be speculation,
McElroy said. More will be known after Mays' autopsy, which could be performed
as early as Monday, she said. If a toxicology examination is needed, those
results could take another four to six weeks.



A Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman in Washington said no injuries
were reported to the FAA after the plane landed.



"We don't normally interview passengers if injuries are not reported,"
spokeswoman Laura Brown said. "There is no way of knowing if Billy Mays had a
seat belt on or not at this point."



Mays' family has remained largely silent since his death.



"As you can imagine, the family is devastated," McElroy said.



His wife released a statement through Tampa police after asking them to handle
all public statements.



"Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public
statements over the next couple of days," she said. "Our family asks that you
respect our privacy during these difficult times."



In a previous Twitter post, Mays said he was preparing for his third hip
replacement in Tampa on Monday. His family said he was in good health otherwise,
according to police.



"My dad didn't wake up this morning" Mays' son Billy said on his Twitter page
this morning . "I'm thankful I got to talk to my Dad last night. I miss him
immensely already. But I feel him with me."



Mays was regarded as the "king of infomercials" and widely acknowledged as the
most successful direct-response TV salesman in history.



His energy and distinctive looks, with an ever-present grin framed by black hair
and a beard, created a household image that Forbes magazine said accounted for
more than $1 billion in combined sales with producer and partner Anthony "Sully"
Sullivan.



Mays' and Sullivan's most recent venture was the Discovery channel realty series
"Pitchmen," which launched in April.



"Finally for him and for Sully, people got to see more of the behind-the-scenes
mystique of how products really get where they are," said Dan Wooley, Mays'
brother-in-law.



"Billy was a really great guy, genuine and a wonderful husband who remained very
approachable even with his climb in the public eye.



"He was just Billy to us."



Mays took great pleasure in working a product and seeing it go from nothing to a
success, Wooley said.



"He loved to sell. He loved to pitch," Wooley said. "He was good at it. You
could see that on his face."



Mays customarily would go for a swim at a local YMCA and take his family to
dinner.



"He'd go to a couple nice restaurants, but he mostly wore flip-flops, shorts and
a T-shirt," Wooley said. "People would approach him all the time to shake his
hand and say 'hi.' "



Mays occasionally would visit Rigazzi's Pizza & Restaurant in New Port Richey,
which Wooley owns.



"I didn't learn how to sell like him, but we definitely reaped the benefit of
him coming in here," Wooley said.



A native of McKees Rocks, Pa., Mays began his sales career after graduating from
high school in 1977 by hawking a portable washing device along the boardwalk in
Atlantic City.



His prominence grew through promoting OxiClean, Orange Glo, Kaboom and other
household products such as the Mighty Putty glue.



"He was really smart to create a character with his beard and his loud blue
shirt," said AJ Khubani, founder and chief executive of the "As Seen On TV"
company TeleBrands.



"He grew up as an average Joe and really understood the needs of consumers and
how to reach them."



The Associated Press contributed to this report.































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