Re: Jim – Unfortunate News – Passed Away Sat. June 29, 2019 at 2AM

Thank you so much for your kind wishes and quick action re: recitations of the Dhamma and getting the word out.

Colin and I only met Jim once in person; as for many of you, Jim's and my relationship was primarily by e-mail – since 2007, when I first joined this group. Colin and I were hoping that this summer would mark the beginning of a string of visits with Jim, now that my own health challenges are significantly better managed. Our disappointment is profound. Jim had a palpable "joie de vivre".

I'm so pleased to learn from Sarah that Jim spoke to her of me and our visit with him; it was an important visit for us as well. My impression of Jim was that he had few friends, but Colin and I definitely consider ourselves to have been among them, and from what I understand, Jim considered many of you his friends as well.

When we met Jim, he was living very simply at his cottage; he was someone who had renounced so much of the world. I think very few of you would know that Jim was legally Deaf and blind; when we visited him in October 2017, he informed us that his hearing and eyesight was getting worse, but was hopeful that various exercises would help (and reported his frustration to me in email when they did not). I knew of his other health issues, but there was no indication to either Colin or myself that Jim was on his way to becoming seriously unwell when we saw him.

As Sarah pointed out, Jim wanted very much to turn his cottage into a Buddhist retreat / "hermitage" – he wanted me to "manage" it, but I was hesitant, as I could imagine it becoming a logistical nightmare – esp. after he was gone.

Like Sarah, I figured out something was awry when I wrote on June 11 to inquire about Colin and I coming to visit him, but didn't hear back. It took me two weeks to remember that I had contact info for Jim's neighbour at the cottage, so sent her an e-mail last Tuesday. When I didn't hear back by Thursday, I called the neighbour and left a message, who then wrote me that evening to say that Jim was in hospital; aside from which hospital, she said she couldn't provide me with any details. I called the hospital the following day; as I was not family, the nurse was also unable to provide me with details. Had he lived in the same city, no doubt we would have gone immediately, but Orillia being 1.5 hours away, and not knowing the severity of the situation, we made it a day late :(

I last corresponded with Jim in December, after Ole passed away; hoping that Jim might come for a visit to Toronto. No hint that he was about to be overtaken by health issues. Following is the e-mail reply I received from Jim, and I will figure out how to post some photographs that Colin took when we visited him.

You will see in at least one of the photographs that Jim is holding a thin white cerlox-bound "book" – it's a score for a piece I wrote for guitar – as I'm a composer and Jim played guitar, he asked for me to bring some of my work so that he could learn it – he reported back,

I wish you all the very best, and as with most things, wish there were more I could do.

Hi Alyssa,

Nice to hear from you on a lovely Christmas morning.

I've been doing fine and have been back in Orillia from the hermitage since Nov. 8. I still continue to have problems with my vision despite my efforts at some improvement. I see better on some days but more often it is a struggle to see. I think a lot of it is due to my state of mind and karmic consequences. I hope you're having an easier time with your afflictions.

I have no plans to come to Toronto as I would not be able to navigate the TTC or ferry crossing without a guide. The last time I was in the city was in Feb. 2008 en route to Laval to visit a Burmese sayadaw.

I will be having Christmas dinner with a French Canadian family in Orillia consisting of my niece, her husband, their daughter and his parents. All with the surname XXXXXXX. My niece and husband recently bought a house in Toronto and are on their way here.

Nothing much new with the cottage. I'm still waiting for steel-roofing to be installed which was suppose to happen in late Oct. I had contacted the Dharma Centre about my hermitage idea and one of their spiritual directors paid me a visit in late May to see the place and I haven't heard from them again since. So it seems very unlikely to find people interested in the idea and willing to help make it happen. I stayed at the cottage for 3 months total this year instead of the usual 2 months since 2010.

I still keep busy with my Pali. I also received an email this morning from Aleix in Burma who gave me a welcome to visit their new Buddhist university in Shan State where he is a lecturer.

I still have vivid memories of our visit last year and I hope we'll meet again.

Wishing you and Colin all the best in the new year,

Jim