Jim passed away peacefully in his sleep on January 6th 2021.
Begin life in Louisiana 1933, pass early teens in Venezuela, three years in a boarding school in Atlanta, attend university in Louisiana (L.S.U. and Tulane), do military obligation and in 1956 settle in Scotland.
Attend the University of Edinburgh, start The Paperback Bookshop & Gallery (1959), The Howff (1961), a folk-song club, the Traverse Theatre (1963), co-organize The Writers’ Conference (1962) with John Calder and Sonia Orwell, the Drama Conference (1963) with John Calder and Ken Tynan and participate in the creation of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Move to ‘swinging London’ in 1966 and there co-create the London Traverse Theatre Company with Charles Marowitz, Michael Geliot, and Ralph Koltai. Co-launch the newspaper “I.T.” (with Barry Miles, John Hopkins, Jack Moore, and Michael Henshaw), the Arts Lab mixed-media space (with Jack Moore, David Curtis, Biddy Peppin, Pamela Zoline and others). Producer by now of over 250 theatre shows I am awarded The Whitbread Prize in 1966.
Co-founded Suck magazine (1969) and the Wet Dream film festival (1971).
Moved to Paris to teach Sexual Politics and Media studies in University of Paris “Vincennes” 1969.
Started Sunday dinner parties at my home 1978, which went on for 40 years.
Meeting Jim, documentary film opened at Edinburgh Film Festival June 23 2018.
Links to films and tributes
the dinners became weekly for 40-plus years.
