This morning I got an email announcing that one of my former college radio mates had died. Given his poor health over the last few years, it sadly wasn't terribly surprising. Jim suffered from diabetes among other things and had recently been told his heart could give out at any time. Which it apparently did last night. The thing about Jim wasn't that he was a great or even good announcer (he wasn't), but that didn't matter. He was a generous man to a fault. I remember getting some clothes stolen during my junior year. Jim found out about it and left a note for me, saying "Hey Todd here are some of my old T shirts for you." This was from a guy I hardly knew. Those old T shirts of his came in mighty handy! I'm sure many others that knew him back at our college station would tell you similar stories about him.

He also was a BIG fan of the Who. He used to joke about it, saying we should switch to a format playing all Who, all the time. *g* He also one time paid me a very high compliment about the music I played on air. I would always play rather obscure, but really good tunes on my shows back then. I felt that made a difference in how my shows sounded on air. There were a few others that were similarly dedicated, including a guy named Keith, who put together some amazing sets of music. Keith is now program director for a FM station in Santa Barbara. Jim once said to me, "Todd, Keith is the king of progressive rock here, but you're the crown prince." I had to agree with him about that assessment. *s*

Jim would always do fill in shifts whenever someone couldn't make an on air shift, in addition to his own weekly show. I also remember the time when we had a new "DJ mixing board" that was supposed to be installed. The installation got delayed and a committee called Bring Out Our Board (or BOOB for short) was formed. Ah yes, the naughty humor of college radio announcers. *g* So they left a note saying "How long before our board comes out? Jim crossed out part of it and wrote it "How long before the new Who album?" *wg* After I left my college station, I lost touch with him. I found out in 2004 his health had gotten bad which saddened me.

Funny thing. I told a local acquaintance by phone this morning about my old friend and then went out to run some errands. As I drove onto the road, the station I was listening to was playing an old Who song. I suspect Jim was saying hi. *s*

I'm attending a Samhain ritual this weekend. I've made a point to include Jim's name in the list of those who have crossed over in the past year and whose names will be recited at the ritual. I know Jim would like that, even if he would be a bit reluctant to admit it. He was a humble guy who had a good heart and soul. And he will be greatly missed by all that knew him.