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TV Pitchman's Son Remembers Famous Father

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Jun 29, 2009 6:41 pm US/Eastern

TV Pitchman's Son Remembers Famous Father

Reporting
Jim Lokay
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― For Billy Mays III, the news of his father's death came by way of several early morning phone calls.

"I found out with a morning wakeup, I had my phone off and it was one of those things where everybody was trying to get a hold of me, and they finally got my girlfriend, and she said to call my mom in Pittsburgh," said the 22-year-old son of the famous pitchman.

The younger Mays had been living in Clearwater, Florida since graduating in 2004 from Montour High School.

Since moving south, he had been helping his father manage Mays Promotions, which marketed the products that the elder Mays personally promoted through television ads. The cult status his late father achieved, according to the younger Mays, was no accident.

"This is something we worked on. We tried to turn his fame into something that was fun for everyone. We didn't want to seem like we were outside of the public, so we embraced it."

Mr. Mays, who died on Sunday, had been preparing for his third hip replacement surgery. His son says the first attempt was unsuccessful; the second resulted in an infection. Still, he had been planning how to continue his business from the hospital bed.

Less than a week ago, the younger Mays followed his dad to Hollywood to watch his father appear on "the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien." The trip was a longstanding promise from father to son.

"We had a nice few days out in L.A., and it was one of the last times we got to spend together."

As his family mourns, Billy Mays III said he is finding comfort in words his father offered after he lost everything in an apartment fire four months ago.

"He instantly gave me speech about these things in life, and such a wise speech. I wasn't expecting that out of him but he just knew exactly what to say and how to move forward get better and stronger from those things. He's given me so much and my family, we just have to be thankful. He lived to just provide for us."

Billy Mays will be laid to rest at a private burial in Pittsburgh later this week, with a memorial planned in Clearwater in a few weeks.

His son plans to use his Twitter page to keep the public informed on future charitable endeavors in his father's name.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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