Terrible News: Jim Blumenthal Passed Away Last Night

[Exhibitman]

Jim was battling cancer and passed away last night. He touched many lives and was a great friend and hobbyist. He will be sorely missed; the National won't be the same for me without him. RIP friend.

ETA: for anyone in the Portland area, there will be a memorial service at one of the colleges where he taught tonight at 7:30.

Maitripa College
Phone: 503-235-2477
Location: 1119 SE Market St.
(cross street SE 11th; 3 blocks south of Hawthorne)
Portland, Oregon 97214

[nolemmings]

Very sad to learn of this Adam. Just very sad.

[ullmandds]

oh man...how sad to hear...Jim was a good guy and had a great collection. My condolences and RIP Jim!

[barrysloate]

Unbelievable! Jim was one of the truly good guys on this board, and like Anthony a very young man, with a young child. Just awful and the second piece of terrible news this week. RIP Jim.

[atx840]

This is very sad news, had a wonderful time at the National talking with him...a truly genuine person and someone I really looked up to in the hobby. Thank you Jim for all your kind words and encouragement you sent my way...you will be missed.

Prayers go out to his family.

[Moonlight Graham]

My thoughts and prayers are with his family-RIP Jim.

[sb1]

Very sad to hear this, Jim was a great guy and will be missed in the hobby.

[irishdenny]

Mere words can't describe Just How Kind Jim had Always been to me!
From the day that we became friends on the 54 He nurtured me iN Every Aspect of the Hobby! Jim had a Natural God Given Ability to Teach, even the like's of me...

I'm going to hit my knee's now... He Really meant a lot to me, As I'm Certain There are Many who feel this way !

[mrvster]

has been lost

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by irishdenny

Mere words can't describe Just How Kind Jim had Always been to me!

Same here - a very wise and empathetic man who will be terribly missed.

[pete zouras]

Sad news of someone I've had many pleasant dealings with here. My sincere condolences to his family.

[bn2cardz]

Very sad that we lost another great contributor to the board. Prayers said for his family.

[auggiedoggy]

I never met Jim but I would like to pass on my condolences to his family and friends. From the comments posted Jim sounds like someone I would have liked to have met and conversed with.

RIP Jim.

[GaryPassamonte]

Great guy and fellow hobbyist. Very sad news.

[brian1961]

I never met Jim, but he must have been a wonderful guy and helped a lot of you guys.

My sincere condolences to his family, prayers for them, and to all you gentlemen that counted him a pal. --Brian Powell

[Al C.risafulli]

I'm pretty wrecked over this today; Jim was truly one of the best guys in the hobby. This is a huge loss for all of us.

At the same time, I'm thankful for the hobby today, because without it, I would have never had the awesome opportunity to meet him.

Condolences to his family, and best wishes for peace and strength.

So, so sorry.

-Al

[VintageBall]

Jim was one of the best people in the hobby -- a truly gentle person, a scholar and someone whose happiness was contagious and made the world a better place.

Here's a story about Jim: http://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/f...ere-hemisphere

And here are two stories written by Jim:

http://fpmt.org/mandala/archives/man...es-blumenthal/

http://fpmt.org/mandala/archives/man...ntal-activist/ -- (click on full PDF to read entirety).

And for all of us fellow collectors, here's Jim's 2008 PSA Award for Best Pre-War Vintage Set: http://www.psacard.com/Articles/Arti...egistry-awards -- (scroll down for Jim).

He will be missed by many, many people in his field of study, in our hobby and in life.

Robert S

[asoriano]

A very sad day indeed. You will be missed, JimB.

Rest in Peace

-Turner Engle

[T206Collector]

He and I shared quite a few emails about signed T206 cards. He had this signed T206 Marquard that he sold to me about 5 years ago. Always quite pleasant to deal with. My condolences.

[4815162342]

This is extremely sad. He was the first Net54 member that I ran into at my first National. His collection is unparalleled. May God bless and comfort his family and friends.

[jbsports33]

God Bless Jim and his Family

[Joe_G.]

Speaking of Jim's recent posts, on 9/28 he responded to Josh Evan's recovery thread as follows.

Originally Posted by E93

All the best with your recovery. Health problems can be a real drag, but they can be the source of great blessings too with right perspective and attitude.
Jim B

[Fred]

This is really sad. He was one of the nicest guys on this board. Just a really wonderful human being.

He got a kick out of the attached picture.

http://www.net54baseball.com/attachm...1&d=1412866990

[glynparson]

Truly sucks.

[Rich Klein]

I can still picture seeing JIM B and that thought makes me smile.

But I'm tired of losing my friends and acquaintences and to bring up a point, we all need to whenever possible go out to shows and stores. Not always to buy but so we can build our interpersonal relationships with each other.

RIP Jim B, who helped show us the way

[Runscott]

Rich, you are so right. I'm very glad that I was at Chicago last year and got to talk with Jim some. He shared an insight via some Sanskrit, which I still have somewhere. Remarkable guy.

[the 'stache]

I wish I'd known Jim, because in reading what everybody else has been sharing, it seems like he was a pretty amazing person. My thoughts are with his friends and family.

[Josh Wolf]

Words can't express just how sad and heartbroken I am right now. Jim was such a loving soul and dear friend. I'm so thankful I was able to meet him at the Net54 dinner in 2006 in Anaheim. We shared many a correspondence from 2006-07, most of which I still have. We talked about his Wagner, Cobb backs, E93's and his now legendary N167 set. In fact, I just recently bought and read his amazing N167 OC article. He also shared what an amazing experience it was becoming a dad.

Jim, I will always cherish your friendship. My heart goes out to you and your family. RIP.

Josh

[jp1216]

I've done trades/sales with both Jim and Anthony S. Such a sad week. Both way too young. Picked up my first T206 Uzit last week via Goodwin. Vic Willis. Needless to say - I thought of Jim when bidding. Now it means just a little more. His back run and 'backs run' are a thing of beauty.

[toppcat]

Jim was one of a kind and I am going to miss him greatly. I am going to try and remember that twinkle in his eye whenever he smiled but right now I am just sad thinking about him.

[familytoad]

JimB, I miss you already.

You welcomed my "off the cuff" invite to meet a stranger in person when I moved to the Portland area in 2006.

I was here without my family before my house sold for 9 months, and didn't have my card collection with me for most of that time.
I was reading Net54 nightly, pining for either a card show or some interaction with the hobby I have been ensconced in since 1970.

I noticed JimB's humble posts , amazing collection and the manner in which he carried himself on the board (when there was pretty regular drama and testosterone contests abound).

I thought, why not contact him to see if he would meet for coffee and talk cards (and Net54).
We did just that, at Starbucks...a couple (then) 40 ish guys playing show and tell with antique cardboard.
Jim was gracious as I showed my very proud but very pedestrian pile of cards over a latte.
Then Jim walked to his car and retrieved a small box with the best baseball cards I had ever seen before (and likely since)
Jim had a collection far above most, a Hall of Fame collector with cartons of Hall of Fame cards.

But then we put the cards away and talked. That's where Jim went to first ballot HOF status. He made me feel like a longtime friend. He was open, informative, caring and just damn cool. I knew he would be from reading his posts here, but this was a special treat.
The 90 minutes w/Jim was a small slice of time in comparison.
But it's a great feeling when you make a new friend (think about that).
I wish we had stayed in touch more regularly. Sure we shared a few emails over the years...congrats on the beautiful baby, nice cards, promises to revisit Starbucks together...and now that's impossible.

JimB, you are awesome and you are missed. All who knew you were touched by your warmth and class. Eternal blessings and happiness for you my friend!

[JasonL]

I am not sure what to say, especially in light of everything that has already been said. I don't post here much these days, but when I first came aboard, JimB was one of the first personalities that I gravitated to...
Right from the start, he just seemed like one of the good ones.

I hope he is in a better place and that he didn't have to suffer through too much pain to get there. He certainly didn't seem like the type of guy who would have deserved that...

As an aside, it is so cool to read all of the familiar names on this thread, saying such wonderful things...this place is such a great escape.