From the Cinapse Team
Hi Alex,
Happy birthday! We hear you’re turning 11. We hope that you’re doing well and that you have a wonderful birthday.
Your Mum thought you might like to hear some remembrances about your Dad today. It makes us sad to think about how we miss him, but we’re also so happy and lucky to have known him, and to have had him as a writer on this very site, where he shared his often hilarious, sometimes acerbic, and always insightful opinions.
James was one of my favorite movie reviewers. He was a man of great wit and humor, which made his work fun to read, and as an editor I took great pleasure in preserving his British spellings and phrases that marked him as an Englishman. His humor and positive attitude weren’t just in his articles, either, but marked our every interaction. I wish that I could have met him in person.
I’ll never forget the feeling I had when I heard the news. I was at a restaurant with my baby daughter, picking up dinner to go. While waiting for our order, I casually browsed Facebook on my phone when the bomb fell — a message from Ed letting us know… that our friend James had passed away. I calmly picked up our sandwiches, smiled and thanked the cashier, and left the restaurant. But as soon as I was safe in my car, I wept. Even though I never met your Dad, he was our teammate and friend, and we loved him. We know you miss him — we miss him too. — Austin Vashaw
As I wrote in our tribute to James a year ago, “His was a voice that connected me to my home, that resonated with my sense of humor and never failed to be both incisive and entertaining”. It’s a testament to his ability and character that he comes to mind when we were faced with a new cinematic travesty. Don’t get me wrong, he was very much adept at celebrating the greatness in our theaters, but James was at the height of his powers when he was able to unload on a woeful release. He was a kindred soul, a refreshing injection of wit and realism into my digital sphere, lifeblood for a Brit living thousands of miles away from the Motherland. I wish I’d known him better, I wish I’d known him longer. Gone but not forgotten old chap. — Jon Partridge
Hey Alex. Happy Birthday! We’ve never met and, though I was a friend of your Dad’s, I never met him either…what with me being a Yankee and all. But I wanted to let you know that your Dad was an extremely talented, professional, and hilarious writer who contributed greatly to our little website called Cinapse. More importantly, he made us all think harder and laugh harder. You’ll probably find your own passions in life. Whether they be film or any number of the other amazing passions we humans are able to pursue, I hope you’ll take a page out of your Dad’s book and approach those passions with hard work, professionalism… and a sense of humor. Those traits made your Dad great to collaborate with and contributed to making him someone who was very much worth listening to. — Ed Travis
