Ironically nicknamed "Little Jimmie" because of what one newspaper kindly called his "exceptionally large physique."
He is reported to have weighed at least 450 pounds and maybe an incredible 507 pounds and to have been five feet, eleven inches in height and exactly five feet, eleven inches in circumference. Latourelle was completely a
product of St. Paul, having been born in a cottage at Eleventh and Robert streets and educated at Cathedral School and Cretin High School, where at the age of fifteen he made his first public appearance as soloist with the school's orchestra. He studied violin under Professor Emd Straka of St. Paul and soon became proficient in playing all kinds of reed, string, and wind instruments.
He was also said to have possessed a clear, resonant tenor voice, and according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, was a composer of "no mean ability.
"Little Jimmie " was not only a clever musician but also a genial man with a wide circle of friends.
When he died suddenly in September, 1908, at the age of thirty, the St. Paul Dispatch noted in a lengthy obituary that he was "reputed to have had more friends in the theatrical profession than any other orchestral director before the American stage."
An estimated 2,000 mourners followed his funeral cortege to St. Louis Church in downtown St. Paul.
Although his musical output was small (only one march and two songs are known), he is remembered for his musical ability, his personality, his size, and one tearful song about early death. Entitled "Pretty Bunch of Doll Rags, " with words by Paul Gyllstrom, Sunday editor of the Minneapolis Times, this song was published in 1905 and gained a certain popularity in the East."
He is reported to have weighed at least 450 pounds and maybe an incredible 507 pounds and to have been five feet, eleven inches in height and exactly five feet, eleven inches in circumference. Latourelle was completely a
product of St. Paul, having been born in a cottage at Eleventh and Robert streets and educated at Cathedral School and Cretin High School, where at the age of fifteen he made his first public appearance as soloist with the school's orchestra. He studied violin under Professor Emd Straka of St. Paul and soon became proficient in playing all kinds of reed, string, and wind instruments.
He was also said to have possessed a clear, resonant tenor voice, and according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, was a composer of "no mean ability.
"Little Jimmie " was not only a clever musician but also a genial man with a wide circle of friends.
When he died suddenly in September, 1908, at the age of thirty, the St. Paul Dispatch noted in a lengthy obituary that he was "reputed to have had more friends in the theatrical profession than any other orchestral director before the American stage."
An estimated 2,000 mourners followed his funeral cortege to St. Louis Church in downtown St. Paul.
Although his musical output was small (only one march and two songs are known), he is remembered for his musical ability, his personality, his size, and one tearful song about early death. Entitled "Pretty Bunch of Doll Rags, " with words by Paul Gyllstrom, Sunday editor of the Minneapolis Times, this song was published in 1905 and gained a certain popularity in the East."
Ironically nicknamed "Little Jimmie" because of what one newspaper kindly called his "exceptionally large physique."
He is reported to have weighed at least 450 pounds and maybe an incredible 507 pounds and to have been five feet, eleven inches in height and exactly five feet, eleven inches in circumference. Latourelle was completely a
product of St. Paul, having been born in a cottage at Eleventh and Robert streets and educated at Cathedral School and Cretin High School, where at the age of fifteen he made his first public appearance as soloist with the school's orchestra. He studied violin under Professor Emd Straka of St. Paul and soon became proficient in playing all kinds of reed, string, and wind instruments.
He was also said to have possessed a clear, resonant tenor voice, and according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, was a composer of "no mean ability.
"Little Jimmie " was not only a clever musician but also a genial man with a wide circle of friends.
When he died suddenly in September, 1908, at the age of thirty, the St. Paul Dispatch noted in a lengthy obituary that he was "reputed to have had more friends in the theatrical profession than any other orchestral director before the American stage."
An estimated 2,000 mourners followed his funeral cortege to St. Louis Church in downtown St. Paul.
Although his musical output was small (only one march and two songs are known), he is remembered for his musical ability, his personality, his size, and one tearful song about early death. Entitled "Pretty Bunch of Doll Rags, " with words by Paul Gyllstrom, Sunday editor of the Minneapolis Times, this song was published in 1905 and gained a certain popularity in the East."
He is reported to have weighed at least 450 pounds and maybe an incredible 507 pounds and to have been five feet, eleven inches in height and exactly five feet, eleven inches in circumference. Latourelle was completely a
product of St. Paul, having been born in a cottage at Eleventh and Robert streets and educated at Cathedral School and Cretin High School, where at the age of fifteen he made his first public appearance as soloist with the school's orchestra. He studied violin under Professor Emd Straka of St. Paul and soon became proficient in playing all kinds of reed, string, and wind instruments.
He was also said to have possessed a clear, resonant tenor voice, and according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, was a composer of "no mean ability.
"Little Jimmie " was not only a clever musician but also a genial man with a wide circle of friends.
When he died suddenly in September, 1908, at the age of thirty, the St. Paul Dispatch noted in a lengthy obituary that he was "reputed to have had more friends in the theatrical profession than any other orchestral director before the American stage."
An estimated 2,000 mourners followed his funeral cortege to St. Louis Church in downtown St. Paul.
Although his musical output was small (only one march and two songs are known), he is remembered for his musical ability, his personality, his size, and one tearful song about early death. Entitled "Pretty Bunch of Doll Rags, " with words by Paul Gyllstrom, Sunday editor of the Minneapolis Times, this song was published in 1905 and gained a certain popularity in the East."
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