You already are and forever will be missed Jim. Thanks for all you taught us.

Well Done
thanks for posting
he was admired for sharing his wisdom and perspective in unique ways

Jim will be missed. Thanks for posting. He is among the handful of SigForum member I have met in person and I have met with Jim many times and call him a real friend. I will miss him.

GodSpeed Mr Allen. I will keep thinking and fighting.

A very fitting tribute. Thanks Para.

Very fitting.

Thank you for posting this, like the others said, very fitting.

Very Nice

God Bless

Very nice, thank you.

Great tribute to a man I never met face to face and appreciated the thought he invoked in all of us. Jim, you will be missed.

Thanks, para.

Thanks Para

Thanks for posting that. We are going to miss Jim

Such a loss. I always looked forward to his post. He is missed.

CW

I always respected his opinions and posts. Rest In Peace, JAllen.

Amen...…………..

Very nice tribute. RIP Jim.

Over the past few weeks, I have received emails suggesting that we rename The Lounge in honor of Jim. I'm still considering it and we may very well still do it. Some of you suggested doing this while Jim was still with us, and I understand why.
I want to share something with you. This was my last email exchange with Jim, on October 2nd. This may shed some light on Jim's feelings about such tributes, and if you don't chuckle a bit reading his response to me, then, you didn't know the man.

Jim,
Just wanted to see how you’re hanging in. I can tell by your remarks that you feel things are getting close. When a member passes- when someone who has influenced this forum passes, we always say the nice things about them after that person is gone. I want you to see those remarks while you’re still with us, so I am going to start a thread tonight or tomorrow, thanking you for your contributions to the forum.

You’re going to be missed, Jim. I’m going to miss you, and I say to you in all sincerity that SIGforum will never be the same without you. Yes, others can step up, as you said. I know that sdy- for one- will carry the standard after you are gone. Yes, there will be members who step up, but it will not be the same, and sdy and everyone else knows it.

Thank you for the countless hours you’ve spent perusing articles to find pertinent items to post in the forum. From the bottom of my heart- thank you and may God bless you and grant you peace in eternity

Most Sincerely and Warmest Regards,

Mike (parabellum)

_________


Well, if this isn’t the nicest most thoughtful message I have ever seen!

I hope you don’t do this, though. It brings to mind when Tom Sawyer attended his own funeral, and “was quite overcome with grief.” I would just as soon be spared that actually. A couple of years ago, after you called me that time, a thread on this topic went on for ~20 pages or more, a very weird experience

Morale in this circumstance seems to be finely balanced between acceptance and disappointment. I try to avoid disturbing it.

My physical condition continues to deteriorate. Nothing can be done about it, nor can anyone forecast the timing. Earlier this summer, I was driving, going to lunches, shopping at grocery stores, Costco, etc. I am essentially bedridden now, getting up only for hygiene and sometimes meals, and on 8-9 lpm O2. I’m lucky in that I can endure this miserable state of affairs in relative comfort, large comfortable home and a wife completely devoted to my well being. Unlike many diseases, there is no pain, no disfiguring or humiliating treatments, but no hope of recovery, either. I plan on voting early.

Not many will have the opportunity to find and post articles like I have. The last few years I have had next to nothing else to do, a situation that not many can hope to enjoy. Hopefully, many will try, encouraging others to know, to think, rather than just bitch and moan in ignorance.

Anyway, thanks again for these kind thoughts and magnificent gesture, which I hope you will not do.

Best

Jim Allen
_________

In the thread announcing Jim's passing, someone remarked that they recall that Jim announced his declining health some time ago, and was gone from the forum for about a day and a half. He returned after the thread was started- the one Jim referenced in his email to me- thanking him. He and I never discussed his return, but I did notice that after he returned to the forum, he didn't post at the same rate as previously. Jim actually picked up the pace and posted even more often. I think what happened is that before his announcement and when all appeared well with him, Jim felt that we tolerated his postings, and that after that thread, he realized that he wasn't merely tolerated. He realized that he meant something to this place. Jim realized that he served in the capacity of a political news editor, and he posted until the end. His last post was October 31st and he died early on the morning of November 2nd.

I mentioned in Jim's hospice thread that I felt he was being cheated. I feel the same even now. A few months ago, Jim told me that his doctor told him that if Jim was still with us in November, he'd be surprised. What I'm about to tell you may not make any sense, but here it is- it angers me that his doctored pegged it. It angers me that the ebbing away of a life can be so accurately gauged from such a distance.
Yes, Jim's physician based his estimate on his many years of experience in his field, and on available statistics for the disease which afflicted Jim. I understand this. Nevertheless, it angers me.

I just wanted you guys to know that Jim really knew what he meant to us. He wasn't just being kind. He really knew of his impact on longtime members here, but Jim avoided being maudlin. Hence, his reluctance to be paid tribute.

FWIW

Thanks for sharing a personal, heartfelt exchange with us from our member Jim.

Yes thank you for sharing that email. Jim will truly be missed here. I didn’t know him at all but his death really affected me. He could always be counted on for his insightful posts, no matter the subject.