Denial

I was saddened earlier today to hear that Jim Butterfield had passed away on June 29th.

His contributions to the Commodore community were immense.

Twenty plus years ago, I bought his book Machine Language for the Commodore 64 at a Coles Book store. It was, and still is a great resource.

I had the privilege to meet Jim at a TPUG meeting a couple of years ago.

Although highly respected and admired he was not arrogant or pretentious.

Jim was a pioneer in personal computing well before Vic-20 & the C64 and I was intrigued to learn of how early computer support groups were established.

He was the author of numerous excellent articles that appeared in Kim Notes.

A few weeks ago Jim published a web page based on some speaking notes that he put together for a presentation at York University in Toronto.

http://www.pathcom.com/~fjb/Personal%20Computers.html

I wish I had taken time away from work to attend this.

Although I will miss his good nature and expertise, we should celebrate his life rather than dwell on our loss.

This is sad news indeed. I was just wondering recently what he was doing these days..

- Talk about a man who left his mark on the scene though.

Aw, crap. I just missed him at a TPUG meeting, and had hoped to meet him in person later at another. To me, personally, he was one of the literary greats of my generation, right up there with Douglas Adams, and now I feel the same way now as I did when I learned of Adams passing.

Any details on his passing? Such as the cause?

Wow, until I saw the picture just now I didn't realize that was Jim. I've seen him before and missed the opportunity to introduce myself... I didn't realize I was in the same room with such a legend.

Info on his passing is available on wikipedia.

I hope he's at peace.

I'm very sorry to hear this. I had a brief interaction with him on Usenet a couple of years ago, and he was very kind and helpful (even though I misspelled his name. Twice!).

I also learned machine code programming from his book "Machine Language for the Commodore 64" a few years back.

Jim was really a beautiful guy-- I was lucky enough to meet him a few times. As a VIC user, I really appreciated all the articles he wrote about VIC stuff. He was so generous with his time, we chatted for quite a while about what a great machine the VIC was. You could still feel his enthusiasm. It was a wonderful experience. I was able to watch a couple presentations by Jim, and it was obvious why he had so much success in his field. He was an incredibly entertaining and charming man.

Let me share a few photos I took of Jim at the LUCKI 2005 Expo.

6502dude wrote:I had the privilege to meet Jim at a TPUG meeting a couple of years ago.

As it happens, I have a photo taken that day...



I really don't know what to say that hasn't already been said. Jim was a great guy and I consider myself lucky to have known him.

RIP, old friend.

Jim Butterfield's obituary will appear in the Toronto Star on Saturday, July 7, 2007. It is currently available through the Toronto Star's website and can be viewed here.

As a rule of thumb, I make a donation to the charity of the foundation or society that promotes research into finding the cure into whatever it was that took the life of that individual. For instance, when my father-in-law passed away due to heart failure, I donated to the heart and stroke foundation. When my aunt passed away from cancer, I donated to the cancer society.

Since there is no mention in the obituary, I think it appropriate that I make a generous donation to the United Way, since they, like Jim, enjoy helping people. At least, that's what I gathered from what he wrote...though I never spoke to him in person, he spoke to me in his programs and his writing, and will continue to do so in the years to come.

Jim received his care at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto and they are always glad to accept donations. Perhaps a donation to them might be fitting? You can find information about how to donate to the hospital here. Alternately, a donation to the Canadian Cancer Society would be fitting. You can make a donation "In Memoriam" here.

Hi there, only to point out a JB Compute! article about our loved machine.

RIP

At a computer club meeting in 1976, I . . .

Wow! That's a long time in the hobby!

Along the same lines, I just discovered today that Fred Fish died this year on April 20th. How could I, someone who still has some Fred Fish disks in his collection, have missed that?

I hope we don't lose too many more notable greats from the Commodore community this year.

Does anyone know how Jack Tramiel's health is? Chuck Peddle participated per video phone on the .. bah, that computer meet in the beginning of June that I can't be bothered to look up.

If it wasn't for the cancer, Jim might have lived many more years.

carlsson wrote:Chuck Peddle participated per video phone on the .. bah, that computer meet in the beginning of June that I can't be bothered to look up.

Vintage Computer Festival East in New Jersey.

CommVEx info at http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex
or http://www.commodore.ca/forum
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug