Mattress Mack has become an icon in the Houston area for his dedication to the community and for his reputation as a straight-shooting business leader, but today many Houstonians are looking to comfort the local entrepreneur.
He's heading into an operating room at the Texas Medical Center in Houston for a four-hour round of surgery to correct a "leaky mitral valve in my heart," but his fans and friends are preparing to show their support.
The open-heart surgery is scheduled at Houston Methodist Hospital for Tuesday, and Jim "Mack" McIngvale has been talking about it publicly for several days, plus he has his own unique way of advising how the public can help.
As a result, he says, "a lot of people have been calling asking what they can do for me, the best thing you can do for me is pray, obviously, and if you need some furniture, come out and buy some furniture, that'll ease a lot of my anxiety."
And everyone's invited to drop off "get well soon" cards and messages of goodwill to Mack; he'll be receiving and reading the cards and letters as he recovers from the surgery over the next few weeks.
And it's easy to remember where to leave cards and letters of support -- the drop-off point is Gallery Furniture's main store, "6,006 I-45 North 'tween Tidwell and Parker!" as Mack recited for more than 40 years in his countless television advertisements.
Mack is also on Facebook at @MattressMack and on Instagram at @Mattressmackofficial, where you can also wish him well.
Mack says he'll be recovering from the surgery for at least a week at the hospital, then at home for two or three weeks.
But in keeping with his good-humored and sometimes mischievous spirit, Mack adds, "Don't tell anyone but I'll probably be back here [at Gallery Furniture] as soon as ten days after the operation.
"Hope to be!
"The more customers come out here [to Gallery], the quicker my recovery will be," Mack says again, "I called a lady, as I call back every customer, she said, 'You're getting heart surgery, what in the world are you doing calling me?' and I said that's what I do and she said, 'Well, you're in our thoughts and prayers.'
Mattress Mack says it simply, "Thank you for having me in your thoughts and prayers...look forward to seeing you soon."