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The Man Who Lived 300 Years

On December 26th, 2014, in the warmth of the night in Mexico, a great person was taken from this earth way too soon. James Lennon Engels Golick was a dreamer, a doer, an inspiration to all he met. Though I’ve struggled to put in words what he’s meant to me, James always encouraged my words, so I needed to give it a shot.

I only knew him well for a few earth years, but I know him for many, many years in James Time. James Time is easy to calculate - you take earth time, multiply it by 10, and round up liberally.

During the 30 or so James Years that we had together, James taught me quite a lot: about computers, about life, art, music, coffee, booze. About esoteric things, grand things, general things. He loved things I didn’t understand and he didn’t understand everything that I loved, but his energy always made me feel welcomed, loved, wanted.

In the days after his passing, friends and family gathered in Toronto to remember him, and the recurring theme was an amazing one: James had what appeared to be a few dozen best friends. At first this was kind of off-putting - we all thought we were the only ones he talked to every day, complained to, bragged to, said hi to, etc. somewhat obsessively. Everyone from his mother to people he only met one or two times in the flesh reported the same experience - they knew his every move. They had shared their fears and regrets, their triumphs and achievements, and everything in between.

At first I struggled to understand how he had so much energy, and then I remembered: his day beat most people’s average week and his year would make most people’s decades seem modest.

So while James lived around 300 James Years, the tragedy remains: he should have probably been around for closer to 1000.

To everyone who feels the pain of his absence, we need to do what he would have wanted: to celebrate him, to remember him, to do well in his honor.

James and my son Asa, October 2014.