Terrible News: Jim Blumenthal Passed Away Last Night

[VintageBall]

Jim was one of the best people in the hobby -- a truly gentle person, a scholar and someone whose happiness was contagious and made the world a better place.

Here's a story about Jim: http://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/f...ere-hemisphere

And here are two stories written by Jim:

http://fpmt.org/mandala/archives/man...es-blumenthal/

http://fpmt.org/mandala/archives/man...ntal-activist/ -- (click on full PDF to read entirety).

And for all of us fellow collectors, here's Jim's 2008 PSA Award for Best Pre-War Vintage Set: http://www.psacard.com/Articles/Arti...egistry-awards -- (scroll down for Jim).

He will be missed by many, many people in his field of study, in our hobby and in life.

Robert S

[asoriano]

A very sad day indeed. You will be missed, JimB.

Rest in Peace

-Turner Engle

[h2oya311]

Oh man! Jim was such a great contributor to this board. I'm not a t206 guy, but I remember seeing his post with the 39 (or 40?) T206 backs all laid out together in perfect alignment. It was beautiful.

My thoughts are with his family at this time. It's a sad day indeed.

[autograf]

Sad news. Enjoyed Jim's commentary on all he collected and appreciated his different take on things with his love for Buddhism and the Dalai Lama as was discussed earlier. As a father to young children myself, that part gives me pause to be thankful for what I have today and say RIP to Jim and pray for those he left behind.

[Leon]

Saddest news I have heard in a very long time. Jim was a close hobby friend and one of the greatest people I have had the privilege of knowing. RIP my friend. You will not be forgotten.

[three25hits]

“Let us try to recognize the precious nature of each day.”
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

[Jay Wolt]

I heard about this yesterday & its just devastating.
Jim was battling cancer a few months after me and we spoke a couple of times and had such a great outlook on life.
He was going through all the bad stuff while I was recuperating and he did more to comfort me, then I did him.

I hope he's at peace, he will be missed.

[mrvster]

post Jim's back run? in his honor

[jefferyepayne]

Heartbreaking news. Had the privilege of meeting Jim at the National a few years ago. He was the kind of person that was always more interested in hearing about your finds and your cards than talking about his absolutely incredible world class card collection.

A true gentleman, scholar, and all around great person. We can all learn a lesson from Jim on how to be humble and treat other people.

RIP Jim.

jeff

[vintagewhitesox]

Originally Posted by three25hits

“Let us try to recognize the precious nature of each day.”
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

A kind soul and a kind heart. I hope he is at peace.

[Peter W Thomas]

I have known Jim for about 20 years and worked on several projects and trades over the years. Only spent time with him in person at 3 Nationals - should have gone to more. Such a young man about the age of my son Chris. I am really sad. Farewell Jim, and very best wishes to your family. Peter

[Kenny Cole]

Terribly sad news. Condolences to Jim's family. RIP Jim.

[bostonmarathonman]

My buddy and I had the pleasure of sitting at the same table as jim at the psa set registry luncheon at the 2008 national in chicago; i was sitting next to jim and struck up a nice conversation with him prior to the presentation of the awards and I had no idea he would be winning an award until joe o called his name and he left the table to accept his award; when he returned to the table I felt honored to be at the same table as someone who won an award (and not just any mundane award but rather the award for best pre-war set; certainly nothing to sneeze at!!!!). I immediately congratulated him and asked if I could see his plaque as i know i'll probably never be lucky enough to receive one. I must admit, I'm more of a post-war guy although I do dabble in pre-war on occasion so I didnt know much about the E93's at the time but when I looked up his set on the registry later that day I was truly in awe of its magnificence. The three of us chatted for a bit after the luncheon concluded and I found jim to be a warm, affable guy who, like us, was so passionate about this great hobby. We exhanged a few emails a week or two after the show and then lost touch but I ran into him again, albeit briefly, at the national in chicago in 2013 when he happened to walk up next to me at a table I was at perusing cards. I said "hey, remember me?!?!?!" and reminded him we shared a table at the psa luncheon five years earlier. Upon hearing this he immediately remembered who I was and we spoke for a minute or two; I remember reading a post of his maybe a few months back (perhaps prior to this year's national??) where he mentioned he was having health issues; as soon as I saw this thread a few minutes ago I was devastated and got sick to my stomach. Just horrible, horrible news. My deepest condolences to his family; may he rest in peace. I will never forget him.

[kkkkandp]

I found Jim to be a very interesting guy. For whatever reason I found it an odd juxtaposition that he could do things like translate for the Dalai Lama and collect baseball cards, too.

And he had great taste in cards. He and I had a couple of very nice email exchanges when he started to pursue Old Judges.

Very disheartening to have two young guys die over such a short period of time.

My regards to his family and friends. RIP.

[T206Collector]

He and I shared quite a few emails about signed T206 cards. He had this signed T206 Marquard that he sold to me about 5 years ago. Always quite pleasant to deal with. My condolences.