He participates in read-to-achieve programs in schools. He gives motivational talks at schools throughout the state and beyond. He works with various charities — among them, Make-A-Wish, DARE, the Happy Factory.

Bailey's manager, Wayne Scholes, estimates that his client gave 150 speeches last year at graduations, hospitals, colleges, high schools, grade schools and churches.

"I'm proud of Thurl," says former Jazz coach and president Frank Layden. "He's done well, and it's not about making money. He's doing things with his life."

When Bailey hired Scholes to be his manager, one of the first things he told him was, "We don't need to make money off everything. There are people out there we need to work with who don't have a budget."

But Bailey does have a business side. He is a member of a national speakers bureau, giving motivational speeches (and sometimes a brief concert) to corporations. He is chairman of three different companies — Big T Productions, Fertile Earth (which has a patent pending on a fertilizer that works through sprinkler systems), and FourLeaf Films (a film production company) — and he sits on the boards of several others.

Then there is his musical side. Bailey was invited to perform with the Utah Symphony three times. He and his smooth, smoky baritone also performed at Thanksgiving Point last year as a promotion for the release of his third CD.

"I always wanted to be more than a basketball player," he says.

His community work and music have attracted audiences, but his biggest demand is to speak to LDS groups about his conversion to the Mormon faith and about his marriage. He receives about two dozen requests a week for fireside appearances, according to Scholes.

"The conversion and our marriage — everyone asks about that," says Sindi.

They are used to the stares (or glares) that come with mixed marriages, but sometimes it turns uglier. One day they were in a Las Vegas mall, and Thurl left his family sitting at a table to order an Orange Julius drink. While he was gone, a black woman approached Sindi from behind and kicked her chair so hard that Sindi almost flopped onto the floor. "I hate you!" the woman shouted.

When Thurl returned, he noticed the mood had changed. "What's wrong?" he asked. Nothing, Sindi said. Then their son, Brendan, spoke up. Pointing to a woman sitting across the way with her friends, he said. "Daddy, why does that woman hate us?" He proceeded to tell his father what had happened. Bailey's blood boiled.

He approached the women and asked if one of them had kicked his wife's chair. They denied it at first, but eventually one of the women confessed — "Yeah, I did it. What you gonna do about it?"