Life of Wry

Went to a very lovely memorial gathering this afternoon for a friend, Jim Eaton, who died last March at age 74.

Jim was a legend in our community, and the State of California as well. He was a fierce environmentalist and co-founder, in 1976, of the California Wilderness Coalition (now called CalWild). As its director for many years, he was responsible for converting a whole bunch of California land to protected status, including huge swatches of desert, mountains, and, as it turns out, a good part of the land used for the Pacific Crest Trail! He was remembered fondly today for his passion, humor, and an amazing legacy.

But my relationship with Jim was at Davis Community Television. He was a board member for seven years (1997-2004) and our board chair for three. I remember him as a gentle and easy going leader, and an interested, contributing, (very) reliable board member. He even went to a conference or two. He was always supportive of my work and vision and I really liked working with him. I was extremely delighted to see the plaque and gavel I gave him, in thanks for his years of service, displayed on one of the tables.

Frankly, I was even more delighted to learn that great big Jim Eaton was a SPRINTER in high school! This article is pretty impressive and his time in the 220 is solid for a high school kid! I ran all those races in high school and college (though by college, 1979 for me, we’d made the switch to meters).

I have to believe we would have discovered this shared experience and bragged about our respective best races, times, meets, and medals! I have no memory of such conversations, however (bummer!). I wish I could talk with him about track now!

Anyway… good man, well loved, life well-lived.