MEMORIAL: LIFE and TIMES of JIM CAMPBELL

Date: DECEMBER 1, 2007
Time: 4:00pm to 7:00pm
Place: POD 250 RYERSON UNIVERSITY

A month and half ago today, on September 17, 2007, Jim Campbell suddenly died from an unexpected massive heart attack near his home close to Maynooth, Ontario. His common-law wife Julie Thiers was with him at the time of his death. Jim was 58 years of age.

Jim’s sudden departure shocked everyone who knew him as a family member, personal or political friend. Jim’s death has been grieved by many people from across the country who shared any part of his life. Everyone who knew Jim has expressed the full impact of the loss of a solid friend and political ally. Since this tragic event, Jim’s legacy is
growing stronger each day, evident at the funeral service held in his home town in Orangeville and recent memorials held in his honour by his former co-habitants and political friends at the Dragonfly rural co-operative in Maynooth and his workplace colleagues at the City of Toronto.

A Toronto-wide memorial has been planned to provide us with an opportunity to pay tribute to Jim’s legacy. The memorial will also accommodate those who were unable to participate in the funeral and memorials held elsewhere. It will mark the spirit of Jim and his life through a series of personal and political expressions, conversation circles, posters and music to help us walk through the different stages of his life. It will also provide us with an opportunity to maintain the integrity of Jim’s dedication within the context in which we all knew him best. Even though our organizing efforts have been initiated out of a terrible tragedy, we felt it would be appropriate to bring together diverse groups of people to help connect the political, workplace and personal dots in Jim’s Life.

Jim’s life and political philosophy has touched people in a lot of different ways and reached many in their personal lives through small and big political involvement. Jim did not engage in any of this as an act of charity or aspiring to build a political bureaucracy or develop a personal cult. Jim was not out for himself, far from it. Neither was he a behind-the-scenes guy. He was up front and solid. In his political and personal interactions, Jim remained non-sectarian, anti-authoritarian, and anti-bureaucratic and anti-hero worship. He was a principled, committed and caring individual throughout his life.

It's evident that many people still grieve Jim’s sudden departure from our midst. In small and big gatherings around the city, Jim’s legacy is a conversation piece as a legend that refuses to go away.

The memorial will be a moment to appreciate Jim’s legacy and to affirm political action with integrity, personal bonds and caring for one another.

We look forward to your participation in this historic event and will appreciate if would contact us with any stories, pictures and anecdotes that you might have about Jim’s life.

Thanks.

For further information, please contact:
Julie Thiers E-Mail: julie_thiers@hotmail.com