Nice memoriam for your friend. I was still in P’burgh in 1980 and frequented many a bar. Maybe our paths crossed. I never went into the Rook, tho. More Monopoles, Office, Shed and Brothers. My Cuban friend Orestes went discoing at Mother’s all the time and I went there a few times, as a spectator only.
Losing friends is HARD, especially those from our early years. We become the memory keepers with no one to share the stories with. They live on in our hearts as long as they still beat. There is a lesson there. Pick up the phone and call while you can. F
Great column. Had similar experience just yesterday when thinking of friend I spent freshman year of college with and were pretty much inseparable then (fall of 1955 spring of 1956) and hadn't seen since 1960. Did computer search and found he had passed in December 2020.
I met Jim during my brief, undistinguished stint at St. Bonaventure. We remained friends ever since. I'm still coming to terms with his death. What I can say for sure is that he was one of the good'uns.
Best memory:
We caught "Goodfellas" in a theater the year it was released. When it was over, we were overcome by the need for an Italian restaurant that was open after 9pm. Jim raced us into Hyannis, and we were scarfing down the pasta before you could say, "Fuggedabowdit!" A good reporter always knows his beat.
Jim did the Lord's work as a daily print reporter. You haven't experienced boredom in it's undistilled purity until you've sat through a school board meeting in a district where you have no kids and own no taxable property. Now multiply that over decades. Add zoning committees, state bond issues, and politicians who won't be pinned down if you ask if it's raining. Toss in a few tractor trailer crashes and multiple-fatality house fires to keep it interesting. The readership of, "That Local Rag," knows for a fact you're a tool of the Oligarchy, AND a subversive who wants to institute Sharia law, force us all to get gay-married and call each other "Comrade."
Jim could have chucked it all and written handouts for politicos or medical consortiums. In stead, he knotted his tie and stared down the deadline every fuckin' day.
Well said! I call it fighting the good fight. There were not many of us who remained in the fight from those early days in Plattsburgh. You had to have that passion. Jim obviously did.
Nice article. Sorry to hear of Jim’s passing. I was in a band called The Nuclear Accidents and Jim wrote about us several times back in the times you referenced here. I was trying to find him to invite him to a reunion gig of the band. It was nice to read your story - we all appreciated his interest in the music scene and he was always very generous with his time and stories in the PR about us. RIP JK
Nice memoriam for your friend. I was still in P’burgh in 1980 and frequented many a bar. Maybe our paths crossed. I never went into the Rook, tho. More Monopoles, Office, Shed and Brothers. My Cuban friend Orestes went discoing at Mother’s all the time and I went there a few times, as a spectator only.
Excellent piece. Was Big Brothers or Monopole on your circuit?
Monopole was, especially for slice of Scillian pizza
Losing friends is HARD, especially those from our early years. We become the memory keepers with no one to share the stories with. They live on in our hearts as long as they still beat. There is a lesson there. Pick up the phone and call while you can. F
It is good advice. It is especially hard to imagine them gone because in my mind’s eye, we are still both 24 years old.
Great column. Had similar experience just yesterday when thinking of friend I spent freshman year of college with and were pretty much inseparable then (fall of 1955 spring of 1956) and hadn't seen since 1960. Did computer search and found he had passed in December 2020.
I met Jim during my brief, undistinguished stint at St. Bonaventure. We remained friends ever since. I'm still coming to terms with his death. What I can say for sure is that he was one of the good'uns.
Best memory:
We caught "Goodfellas" in a theater the year it was released. When it was over, we were overcome by the need for an Italian restaurant that was open after 9pm. Jim raced us into Hyannis, and we were scarfing down the pasta before you could say, "Fuggedabowdit!" A good reporter always knows his beat.
Jim did the Lord's work as a daily print reporter. You haven't experienced boredom in it's undistilled purity until you've sat through a school board meeting in a district where you have no kids and own no taxable property. Now multiply that over decades. Add zoning committees, state bond issues, and politicians who won't be pinned down if you ask if it's raining. Toss in a few tractor trailer crashes and multiple-fatality house fires to keep it interesting. The readership of, "That Local Rag," knows for a fact you're a tool of the Oligarchy, AND a subversive who wants to institute Sharia law, force us all to get gay-married and call each other "Comrade."
Jim could have chucked it all and written handouts for politicos or medical consortiums. In stead, he knotted his tie and stared down the deadline every fuckin' day.
Well said! I call it fighting the good fight. There were not many of us who remained in the fight from those early days in Plattsburgh. You had to have that passion. Jim obviously did.
Sounds like a really good reporter and person! So sorry for your loss. Thankfully, you have nice memories.
Nice article. Sorry to hear of Jim’s passing. I was in a band called The Nuclear Accidents and Jim wrote about us several times back in the times you referenced here. I was trying to find him to invite him to a reunion gig of the band. It was nice to read your story - we all appreciated his interest in the music scene and he was always very generous with his time and stories in the PR about us. RIP JK