RIP Jim Lewis

L haven't been a member here for long, but may I add my condolences to Jim's family. He was very patient with me when I joined and had 'technical problems'. Been a sad week.

If we really want to honor Jim and keep his memory alive then we should have some kind of permanent tribute on the home page.

Working on it.

Thanks Fiona.

It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet Jim in person in Asheville at those Expo's over the years.  His long-time, on-line presence on IBC has had a profound effect on so many aspiring newbies and vets alike to Bonsai.  Jim's personal character and tireless promotion of bonsai were always refreshing and humbling to me.
-
Ahhh man...  I'm so sorry my friend, that I never did bring in that Most Wondrous Black Brew I promised you, for a taste....  But, rest assured I shall soon be leading all of the likely Lads and Lasses in Black, of the Tidewater Bonsai Club in a toast to you Jim, with hoisted glasses of (Home Brewed) BLACK OP's BONSAI, IMPERIAL BLACK IPA.

Fair Winds and Following Seas to you Jim, on your next journey.  This old sailor and all of those you have left ashore will miss you greatly, old friend.  

I had the pleasure of meeting him a few times in Asheville. A true diamond geezer

RIP Jim!

I unfortunately never had the privilege to meet Jim, although he always extended a warm invitation if I was ever in Asheville to visit the Arboretum. He was an inspiration to this forum and very gracious in giving advice and input to all those who visited this site with an avid interest in bonsai. I will really miss him. The bonsai world has lost another pillar.
My sincere condolences to his family.

Tom Simonyi

He was my teacher for nearly two decades. Thank you to him and all of his friends here for the pursuit of knowledge that we have shared.

We are delighted to announce that an award created by the Internet Bonsai Club in memory of Jim will be presented at the North Carolina Expo this weekend.

The Jim Lewis Award will be awarded to the Best Native American Bonsai exhibit in the show, and with standards running high at the Expo, the award is destined to be handed to a very worthy winner indeed.  

Jim had tried to get to the Expo as often as he could despite his failing health, and was a staunch supporter of what the North Carolina Arboretum and its bonsai curator Arthur Joura were trying to achieve in bringing our hobby to the fore.  I like to think that he'd have been tickled at being the subject of one of its awards.

The award, which we hope to present annually, has been specially created and features one of Jim's own trees - a sand pear which he grew from seed. The story behind it is that it was born out of the discarded seeds, skins etc of a batch ofrelish his wife had made.    You can read the story in Jim's own words HERE  The award also features one of Jim's favourite sayings - one which he used frequently on this forum as a reminder that we shouldn't get too above ourselves.  

In addition to the main award, we will also be presenting a further one to Jim's wife Jackie, who provided the rock on which he stood.  Jackie will be at the awards presentation and I am sure you will all join with me in passing on our greatest respects and our colossal thanks for all Jim did for IBC and for Jackie's support for it.

Even better would be if you were in the area and were able to go along to the show and to the presentation.



The Jim Lewis Award for Best American Native



The award to be presented to Jackie Lewis

Amazingly thoughtful. If I had one trophy that meant enough to me to display it, this would be the one!

Keep prunin' Jim!!!

And a sweet nod to his spouse.

great words Fiona, Jim is sadly missed.

He used to play songs too.

This might seem cheezy to some, but I'm sure we could have played that tune along, and feel brothers:

https://youtu.be/8BRipPNjHfY

Je crois que c'était un de ces hommes qui aimait la Liberté, qui savait que seule la Fraternité pouvait conduire à l'Egalité. J'aurais aimé le connaître vraiment, jouer "freight train" avec lui.

D'une certaine façon, je crois l'avoir rencontré. Je ne sais pas, c'est peut-être prétentieux. En tout cas je me souviens de lui : je ne crois pas en dieu, mais s'il y a un paradis quelque part, je jouerai de la guitare au son de son autoharpe, et ce sera bien ;-)

I think this is a really nice, and thoroughly appropriate tribute.

It was an honor to present the first Jim Lewis Award to the owner of the "Best Native American Bonsai" at the 2016 Carolina Bonsai Expo.  Then, I had the privilege of presenting a similar award to Jim's wife Jackie.  Many of Jim's friends from local & regional bonsai clubs were there.  It is easy to imagine that hundreds of bonsai friends Jim amassed internationally through over two decades of discussions on IBC were there in spirit.  

Following his individual tree & club presentation critiques, guest bonsai artist Dan Robinson chose the "Best Native American Bonsai."  As a member of Nashville Bonsai Society, Amy Blanton displayed a very engaging Rocky Mountain Juniper bonsai.  After enthusiastically accepting her award & hearing Jackie speak briefly about Jim, Amy embraced Jackie and shared that she has tended the tree, keeping alive the memory of her late husband, an IBC participant who died in 2013.  
 
The president of Jim's club (Blue Ridge Bonsai Society) Jessie McMahon joined them in animated discussion.  Now the owner of Jim's collection, Jesse assisted Jim in caring for his bonsai over many months of Jim's illness.  Jesse noted that the Sand Pear bonsai illustrated on Jim's award is thriving.  It seemed an improbable but fortuitous moment, as Jackie (left), Amy (right) and Jesse (below) posed for a picture with the awarded tree.




The "Best Native American Bonsai" with both IBC awards...

Thanks so much for being available to present these awards. I regret not being able to attend but appreciate the efforts of all involved including Ken Duncan for safely transporting the awards to Asheville.

What a remarkable and wonderful moment.



Well done to all who made this happen, especially John for arranging the awards, Chris for presenting, and Arthur for allowing us to use his event as the vehicle for presenting the awards.

It was a moving moment Sat. evening when the Jim Lewis award was introduced and presented! Warm feelings and wet eyes accompanied the kind and thoughtful words presented! It was wonderful that Jackie was there and able to share her feelings and receive the thoughts and prayers from those in attendance!

Thank you to all that made this happen!

John

beautiful, is all i can add.

shine on jim

That worked out beautifully. A big thank you to everyone who was involved in making this fitting and moving tribute come about.