Sitting here in the airport in Amsterdam I received the sad news that Jim Munves, a neighbour and great Islander, has died.

Jim and his wife Barbara were fixtures of our neighbourhood; I saw them just a few weeks ago walking around the block together. Jim briefly lost track of Barbara when she and her aid took a shortcut through the Murphy Centre parking lot; there was a palpable look of joy on both their faces when their reconnected.

Even though he lived just a few blocks away, shared an interest in public transit, and used to write talk pieces for The New Yorker, I never introduced myself to Jim. I always meant to, but was forever in a hurry; “I’ll get him on the next round.” Alas that’s exactly what I did last week, even though the opportunity presented itself. And so we never met.

By all accounts, Jim’s was a life well-lived; our neighbourhood won’t been the same without him. My sympathies to Barbara and their children.