JHCC Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Please say a prayer for Edmundo (my brother’s father-in-Law) and James (my old Greek professor) who both died today. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Friends and family are on the list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 I have prayed for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Knee bent, anvil rung Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Marg and I have prayed for both of them. May they rest in God's presence and precinct. John, you have our sympathy and empathy. SLAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Knee mail sent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Prayers for them, family and friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Olson Posted October 30, 2018 Share Posted October 30, 2018 Prayers sent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 Prayers sent John. Peace be with all. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 2, 2018 Author Share Posted November 2, 2018 Frosty, I think you will particularly enjoy the penultimate paragraph of the official notice from the Classics Department on Jim's death: Quote It is with a terrible sadness that the Oberlin Classics Department must announce the sudden and unexpected passing of Jim Helm, professor emeritus, mentor, teacher, and friend. Jim and his wife Anne were traveling this past week, and Jim apparently died suddenly and unexpectedly. Details on a memorial service are not yet complete, but Anne has indicated that it will not take place right away. We will keep you posted as news develops. Jim was a humble, kind, and principled man with a sly sense of humor and a fondness for terrible puns. He will be remembered for many accomplishments, virtues, and characteristics; I offer a few here. Jim was a good and great teacher, particularly of the Greek language; generations of students first read Plato's *Apology* with Jim, and generations more are still reading the *Apology* from Jim's deeply learned student commentary. I am teaching from it now, and I learn from Jim on every page. It was Jim who started Oberlin's "Bardic Reading" in 1993, a nearly-yearly event in which students of Oberlin Classics read aloud a long work of classical literature (most traditionally, the *Iliad*, *Odyssey* or *Aeneid*; less traditionally, the extant works of Aristophanes, or [once!] Lucan's *de bello civili*). In the early years of the event, Jim would stage it on Sunday in the 'Sco; Jim always stayed until the end, would help wrap things up at 3 or 4 am Monday, and then appear, alert and apparently refreshed for his 9:00 am class -- much to the amazement of his dazed and exhausted students. Jim retired, characteristically, at the age of 65, not because he was done teaching, but because he felt that he should make room in a crowded field for a younger scholar. Jim always did the right thing, simply and quietly, with principle but without demonstration, no matter the cost to himself. As will all of us, I will miss Jim a great deal. Perhaps most of all, I will miss the sly grin he used to show when he had a really terrible pun to spring on the unsuspecting. His delight in these moments was always infectious, and it is that fleeting moment of sheer enjoyment - just before the pun - that stays with me today. Our deepest condolences to Anne, Jim's surviving son Bennet, and all of their family members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cannon Cocker Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 What a beautifully written obituary remembering the qualities of a man who's type the world needs more of! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 2, 2018 Author Share Posted November 2, 2018 I am reminded how often I tell the story of how easily he could be distracted into endless discussions of the minutiae of Greek grammar -- which was especially useful if you hadn't done that day's translation. Of course, what little I actually remember of Ancient Greek grammar is dominated by the information he shared in those extensive tangents. He may well have been wiser than I knew. 5 minutes ago, Cannon Cocker said: a man who's type "whose" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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