Jamie Johnston (S.V. Airlie) is in the hospital.

[Ed Harrow]

Thanks to Emily I’ve been writing to Jamie weekly for a while. At first I hand wrote, and then remembered learning (after the fact) that when a certain party learned he had a letter from me the pool started ‘Would he be able to read it all’… So then I started typing them. Having spent 4 months in hospital I can attest that being remembered is more important than one will ever know, until finding oneself in such a predicament. And don’t agonize over the words you write.

The death of a loved one is like a fresh-cleaved rock. At first it is sharp, angular, and at best unpleasant, if not painful to grasp.
Over time, however, the sharp edges abrade, and eventually the stone becomes so gently rounded we pick it up, gaze upon it, hold and roll it in our hands, and derive peace and comfort from it.

Jamie was a good hand, obstreperous tis true, as has been pointed out. Fair winds good Sir.

[johnw]

At first, Jaimie's death made me so depressed I couldn't write on the thread. Thanks to those who have celebrated his life.

[WI-Tom]

I've been teaching Macbeth just now. Hard to teach with this thread in mind:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

But seeing this thread, and watching people do what they've done to let Jamie know he was remembered, has been something of an antidote. Or a comfort, at least.

Tom

[elf]

It's hard to read that famous bit without also considering just how ugly and brutish life was back then - something which would ignite the imagination of someone as perceptive, prescient and empathic as its author must surely have been and would have driven him to such deep cynicism. Life was short, dirty, vengeful, highly stratified, cold, smelly, inebriated, unequal, oppressive. Everything western culture has striven to modify, improve, clean up, infuse with higher ethics since that time was possibly completely beyond the imagination of any but the most prescient of that era.

The rest lived that life of sound and fury, with a big dose of fury - especially the inchoate fury of knowing how little could be done to stop having to live that way, how powerless each individual was.

Sadly, in a very real sense, Jamie's cantankerousness was an reflection of his inability or unwillingness to make the adjustments which might have led to a longer and healthier life - to step away from the cynicism and let healthier connections enrich him.

Whatever, I'm very glad we stepped in, even though it turned out to be at the last moment, and appear to have brought some relief to him. The connection was the thing, just as, for Macbeth, it might have been, had he been willing to let go of his fury.

[David G]

I hope that the calls people made, and the cards/letters some of us sent, brightened his final days.

Fair winds and following seas wherever this latest launching leads you, ya ol' Varmint!

[Joe (SoCal)]

I hope that the calls people made, and the cards/letters some of us sent, brightened his final days.

Fair winds and following seas wherever this latest launching leads you, ya ol' Varmint!

When I spoke with his sister the number one thing she wanted everyone here to know is how much Jamie appreciated all the cards, letters and phone calls. As she said he really didn’t have any real friends and he considered all of us an his time here as being with friends.

Also I just got a text from her saying that putting a fund together for Arlie was a spectacular idea. She’s putting together his obit tomorrow and will include MMD’s rescue info.

She also will be sending me my iPad back.

[elf]

Sad story.

[Steve McMahon]

Airlie will be welcomed to her boatyard in NS this coming Monday November 21st at 0930. They are inviting anyone that wants to come for the ceremony.

[Joe (SoCal)]

I just received Jamies Obit this morning from his sister. She asked me to post it here.

James Andrews Melrose Johnston
December 20, 1953 – November 14, 2022



James Andrews Melrose Johnston,Jamie to family and friends, crossed the bar on November 14, 2022, following a prolonged battle with multiple ailments. He was 68.

Born on December 20, 1953, in New Haven, CT, into a family of educators, naturalists, poets, historians, sailors and adventurers, Jamie never missed an opportunity to gleefully embrace novel experiences, such as when, as a toddler, he astonished his mother when she removed his rain hat in a New Haven store only to find a mouse cheerfully nestling in his hair.

Jamie started out at the Foote School in New Haven, CT, and then graduated from Pine Point School in Stonington, CT,during which time he befriendedand was mentored by Roger Tory Peterson. Jamie went on to Berkshire Schoolin Sheffield, MA, and the University of Maine,where he made lifelong friends and graduated with a degree in Wildlife Management. He thenjoined fellow ornithologist Tom Lovejoy to study birds in Brazil, braved the hostile pecks of ospreys along the coast of Maine as he climbed up to their nests to detect pesticides and band them, and later led “Kids in Creeks” programs in Tennessee and Maryland to promote the health and beauty of their natural habitats. Making friends wherever he went, Jamie and his spirited dog of the moment cheerfully accepted invitations to “camp” on their porches or assault their coffee pots, even when there was no one at home.

In between these projects, Jamie taught biology at secondary schools from Connecticut to Texas and enjoyed a stint at The American School in Switzerland (TASIS), which afforded him time for rollicking bicycle rides in the Alps, Great Britain and Europe. On one occasion, Jamie warned Odie, his boisterous student companion, to descend a Scottish mountain with caution as there was a treacherous turn at the bottom. Defying this advice, Odie was found later deeply lodged, but unscathed, in a sheep shed, admitting that ignoring Jamie’s counsel could be perilous to one’s welfare.

Jamie also continued his family fascination with the sea. One of his earliest experiences was on a voyage through the Baltic Sea and the Göta kanal, when his family unwittingly left the little ten-year-old on the dock in Gothenburg Harbor, only to discover his absence when they couldn’t find him at lunchtime.Later in his life he plied the New England and mid-Atlantic coastlines in his traditional wooden sailboats, accompanied by his loyal dog of the day and, often, many friends in the Wooden Boat Forum. No fiberglass for these gifted folks, for whom unforgiving, intensive and never-ending boat repair is an integral aspect of sailing life.

In a word, Jamie was simply multi-dimensional and, like a whack-a-mole, incapable of settling comfortably into any confining niche for very long. He was always devoted to his family, friends and dogs, ever cheerful and gregarious, ever fascinated by family genealogy and lore, and comfortable both among friends and alone, when he reveled in a quiet life interrupted only by the humming of his bees.

[Joe (SoCal)]

cont.....

Jamie is predeceased by his parents, Waldo C.M. and Elinor Doolittle Johnston. He leaves his siblings, Waldo C.M. Johnston, jr., Elinor J. Vincent and Carol J. Galpin and their spouses, five nieces and nephews and 11grandnieces and -nephews, all of whom will greatly miss his reflections, advice, arguments, anecdotes, knowledge, support and creativity.Jamie’s family is especially grateful for the comfort extended to their brother during his final weeks, especially by Robbie Clark, George Holden, Lang Keith, Jane Clark, Chip Northrup, Henry and Rebecca Weil, Harry and Ellen Levine and the Wooden Boat Forum.There will be a private internment atLakewood Cemetery in December and a jubilant celebration of Jamie’s life up on the hill next summer. Donations may be made in memory of Jamie to Nova Scotia Heritage Schooner Rescue Society / schoonerrescue.org, where Jamie’s schooner Airlie is undergoing restoration, and the Susquehanna SPCA,5082-5088 State Highway 28, Cooperstown, NY 13326 / sqspca.org.


Jamie with his pet crow, Poe.

6DFA5298-1409-4FB1-AE75-A72DF7054D71.jpg


Jamie banding an inquisitive osprey.

1BF2BA75-7CB1-49D1-8C70-6631E8FD0032.jpg

[elf]

Great!

[Yannis Xanthakis]

I checked the Forum after some time and saw the sad news. Of course, the obligatory R.I.P., but also my admiration to all those of you who took care of communicating with him and brightened his last days.

[C. Ross]

That’s a great obituary! Our friend passed too soon. But what a life well-led. Thanks Joe!

[Breakaway]

Noyce!

[Tom Montgomery]

That’s a great obituary! Our friend passed too soon. But what a life well-led. Thanks Joe!

You took the words right out of my mouth. Jamie was on my mind all day yesterday.

[Garret]

Michael (mmd) sent me these 2 pics on Sunday - but I was having too much fun building the frame for the winter cover on my brother's boat. I'd forgotten how much fun carpentry in 25F with 20+ knot winds is...

Airlie arrived (at night it seems) in Nova Scotia on 11/19:

Airlie arrives in NS 19 Nov 2022 No 1.jpg

Airlie arrives in NS 19 Nov 2022 No 2.jpg

[wizbang 13]

Well written obit.
It's something to read how the WBF was such a big piece of the pie of Jaimies life.

[Keith Wilson]

. . . for whom unforgiving, intensive and never-ending boat repair is an integral aspect of sailing life.

Ouch!

[TomF]

Ouch!

I'll forgive it ...

[Joe (SoCal)]

This morning’s text from Jamies sister who has been reading this thread

Thanks Joe — it is so good to know Jamie had all those friends. He talked about you guys all the time, and now I know why. Tell them Jamie is in a much better place, save for on his boat. Well, maybe he is on his boat. And someone asked about his dog — I have her. She is a little sad but coming along.

01B11A12-12F9-44F5-82B1-0FA1B3D67F6B.jpg

[elf]

He didn't have that dog for very long, but clearly managed to connect with it. It's wonderful that his family put out the effort to bring the dog to visit him, too.

And best of all that they're willing to keep the dog in the family.

[Vince Brennan]

One of my treasured memories of "Cap'n Curly" was of he and "C"Dog at one of the WB Boat Shows , walking along the display molle with Cdog out about twenty feet on a small line, and Jamie jelling, "Port! Dammit, Starboard, Dammit!" and Cdog appearing to "answer her helm" as she plowed thru the rather tight crowd of punters. Of curse, she was picking her own path, but you could not convince Jamie of that! Wota pair!

The pic of Joe and Paul coming back from "The Gold Dust Run" is great! I can't find mine, which also showed the watertaxi skipper's face looking like he'd rather be anywhere but there!

Last input: Anyone know what happened to the blue porpoise statue?

I'll really miss "Bacon Boy"!


ETA: Joe, what's the name/site for that newspaper? My eyes can't make out the print on the post.

[Tom Montgomery]

.
Her name is Betham. Jamie was so pleased when his sister brought Betham on a visit and she slept in his lap.

[elf]

Wishing Jamie's family a peaceful Thanksgiving today. I'm sure all who cared about Jamie are thankful for his family's efforts and presence in his life, as well.

[Joe (SoCal)]

ETA: Joe, what's the name/site for that newspaper? My eyes can't make out the print on the post.

https://www.allotsego.com/in-memoria...ember-14-2022/

[Joe (SoCal)]

Jamie’s sister and iPad update.
She just shipped it back to me, but more importantly she onece again wanted to thank all of us here for being such good friends to her brother. Long story short we should all be proud and blessed by our mutual affection to her brother. Well done.

As for me I find myself thinking about him more and more. The sail back from Newport with just me and him was a bonding experience. Yea he was cantankerous but he had a wonderful nautical heart and I miss him dearly.

[TomF]

Well said.

There are a whole bunch of us who have significant friendships here, and perhaps not as great a number "IRL". It's just how the filter works, sorting folks of specific niche interests, etc.

Ironic that aspects of the same technology which leads many of us to be fairly isolated are the same things which can provide an alternate way to relieve some of the isolation.

[elf]

Possibly the kind of friendship which is to be found here was just the amount of closeness that worked for Jamie. Still I'm sorry he didn't check in more frequently during his final year or so. We missed an opportunity to be better friends to him during that critical time when he was getting really sick.

[brad9798]

Not on here much anymore ... but reading of his death saddens me! He was one of the good ones to be sure! Peace, sir!

[cs]

Sad news indeed. Fair winds and following seas.


This outreach of the WBF is amazing and I'm sure it meant the world to him. It does my heart good and kinda restores my faith in humanity to see such an outpouring of friendship. I've been here longer than most and seen many virtual friends pass over the bar and it never fails that the folks here really and truly care.

Jamie we may not have meet or even talked but go in peace my friend.

Chad

[JayInOz]

That’s a great obituary! Our friend passed too soon. But what a life well-led. Thanks Joe!

I'll have another crack at reading it when I find my magnifying glass. Methinks my glasses have passed their use by date.

[Garret]

I'll have another crack at reading it when I find my magnifying glass. Methinks my glasses have passed their use by date.

When on a web page, hold down the CTRL key & press the + key. Each time you do it, the print gets a little bigger (though pictures sometimes don't). CTRL and - make it smaller.

Even works here on the forum!

[Joe (SoCal)]

I'll have another crack at reading it when I find my magnifying glass. Methinks my glasses have passed their use by date.

Jay I edited for you and anyone else who had difficulty reading it. Let me know if that works for you.

[Vince Brennan]

Thanks, Joe. Much appreciated!

[Concordia...41]

Sadness.

It's taken me a bit to read this as I had to catch up in small doses. I'd missed my call window but logged in once only reading the early pages looking for the address to send him a card. Then I couldn't find the thread at all, and then I found it pinned with the sad news from several weeks earlier

Ed Harrow's post was the first one I saw, and that off-repeated quote said it all

While it seems he took pride in being a cantankerous curmudgeon, I found him to be incredibly kind and generous over the years. Sarah benefited from a couple of sails he passed down and there's a 100' of lifeline material he sent that I still haven't gotten installed.

Peace and fair winds my friend.

Love -
M