by Jac Flanders

Jac Flanders spent much of his life in the shadows - of superstar Jerry Lewis, as his personal assistant, as Editor of a San Diego newspaper and magazine, and as an Emmy winning writer of the acclaimed television series 'Desperate Passage.'

Still, Jac has often been in the right place at the right time. His three thousand foot fall into a freshly plowed field was all about timing.

He describes years spent on the road with Jerry Lewis in such spirited detail, you'll almost believe the memories are your own. Jac recalls meeting Robert Kennedy in the very spot where a week later Sirhan Sirhan took the candidate's life. He recalls the emotional moment when Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin reunited after twenty years of silence. He recalls a time when three martini lunches were the norm and no one could have believe that kids would one day carry guns to school.

Jac delivers these sometimes funny, sometimes sad and always heartwarming stories from and 'everyman's' perspective. In the end, What I Learned on the Way Down is an unexpected treasure of stories told by someone who humbly admits he was just along for the ride.