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It's really about realizing
we can own a piece of each other's successes, and in so
doing, learn to become successful ourselves.
Lois Shelton,
Foxglove Films |
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~In Memory~
Jim Hinde 1951-2008
It’s always difficult when amongst all the good and uplifting news there is sadness, but I want to tell you about a wonderful man, my friend, Jim Hinde who we all lost just recently.
He looks like Santa here, doesn’t he? Well, his heart was as big. And he had a bag of tricks filled with love and talent too.
I met Jim:
busker, balladeer, composer/poet, activist and natural born story-teller in 2000 at Pike Place Market while scouting with camera for my documentary about that iconic institution, and bumped into this iconic institution. “And just what are you doing here in my Market?” he asked jocularly, I could almost hear the “Little Missy” at the end of that question. I faced a bunch of skepticism when I walked into that nine-acre hornet’s nest. Who was I? Did I know anything about what goes on in that family - outsider and a Jersey girl to boot? But not from Jim, he was as he always is kind, funny, all charisma, compassion, and good nature. He and I became friends, and that was the best thing that happened to me in the Market, of all the great and wonderful experiences there, friendships are the best.
Jim was, among a multitude of things, a Vietnam War Vet, who grew up on a Midwestern farm, rode the rails West and found a home in Pike Place Market where anyone could see him most any day singing on humanity’s behalf, playing his guitar in front of Starbucks or in Post Alley, and dispensing pearls of humor and wisdom. Jim was there for 18 years, organized the Pike Place Market Busker’s Guild, championed Veteran’s rights and everybody’s rights, and wrote songs that praised the good parts of America, and deplored war. I was proud to know him and I walked down a red carpet with him to accept a bunch of Emmys for Pike Place Market: Soul of a City –his too, for host/co-writer! And he was proud of that.
If you’ve seen the documentary you know that Jim, still is, its star. And he really does twinkle, as everyone will tell you. He is beloved in the Market, and it’s a tough audience, roiling with a hundred years of passion. Many hundreds of folks stood in the rain at the north end of Pike Place Market on the 2nd of July to celebrate Jim’s life and to say goodbye. We talked about him, quoted him, we sang his songs, the city council even proclaimed a tender proclamation in his name! Jim is in many ways the soul of what that place is. He was a gift to the Market and to Seattle, and to anyone who was fortunate enough to cross his path.
Janet, his wise, grounding partner-spitfire wife, and love of his life; and his two adored, exceptional kids, Katie and Nate, as well as the rest of us, have lost a just, loving peacemaker, and a very rare good man.
~ Virginia Bogert
Read story on SeattlePI.com
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