this weekend was a double-whamy for me, having lost my sister to cancer on thursday morning............
i first met jim at the LSLC roundup in katemcy in 2005. i had seen the build-up pics of his rig and was very much looking forward to seeing the completed project. so i was stoked to see it being unloaded early that weekend. the buggy had quickly become my favorite rig and it still is. i had no idea who jim was. as luck would have it, he invitd me to go for a ride in his buggy with the rest of the group. i soon realized that not only was i in an extrordinary vehicle at the hands of a very capable driver, but i was also in the presence of a very special person. i got to spend some more time with jim that weekend at the event and enjoyed every minute of it. nolen had told me that "jim's a cool dude" and he was right.........
on the way home from katemcy we stopped by sunray engineering and got a tour of the place. i quickly found out why jim had his buggy built there, having already have them build a jeep for him. top notch group of guys, top notch work and great design-work. ray was a pretty special guy in his own right.....
the next time we met was a year later at the roundup in 2006. i was watching one of the hard-core spots. jim drove right up, composed as always. a few minutes later he made his way back to the spot having parked the buggy. we made eye contact, he walked right up to me and said "georg, nice to see you again", shook my hand and sat down next to me. jim had a good hand-shake; one that meant something. we chatted for a while and watched the other rigs on the obstacle. time well spent. got to go for another ride with him later that day, now with the 4ws. amazing as expected.
the only other time i saw jim was at the roundup this year. same deal, time well spent with a friend.
jim was very easy to get along with, extremely pleasant to be around, welcoming, intelligent, never raised his voice in distain, soft spoken, .......... how many accolades can you make a man without going overboard?! i think cowboy summed it up very well during his speech at the southern cruiser crawl:" jim was a gentleman. a true gentleman's gentleman".
here's what i know: jim went out doing what he loved. the world will be a lesser place without jimbro. i will sorely miss him.
RIP bud.
georg
