Deceased July 21, 2015
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In Memory
Jim Bemis died in his hometown of Austin, Texas, after a fall this past July. I met Jim in September 1969, as a fellow freshman resident of North, fourth floor; we instantly became close friends (Jim even spent part of summer 1970 at my parents’ house in Marblehead, Mass.), and we became roommates in Valentine our sophomore year.
Although I regret that I lost touch with Jim after he decided to leave Amherst following our sophomore year, I’ll always have vivid and happy memories of our countless good times, adventures and endless talks on everything from mysticism, the drug culture (we were in favor of it!), social unrest and politics to religion, Smithies, Amherst campus life (bad food!), sports cars and, of course, music. Jim introduced me to artists such as the Incredible String Band, John McLaughlin and the Grateful Dead—and we both agreed this new guy named Andrew Lloyd Webber, with his Jesus Christ rock opera, was probably destined for some success.
Given his unrelenting questioning and constant search for new experiences, Jim was a student who personified the dramatically changing atmosphere on college campuses in the early 1970s, and many of our escapades together must remain untold, such as the great Dean Ward Texan-Herbal-Stuffed-Stereo Delivery occasion. …
However, one small story from Halloween 1969 reveals Jim’s mischievous adventurousness, when he persuaded me to go trick-or-treating, ending with us knocking on the door of President Calvin H. Plimpton’s house on a mutual dare. To our surprise, Cal graciously invited us in, plied us with good Scotch, amused us with ribald anecdotes and ended by showing (and brandishing!) his sword cane from his days as a New York City doctor: Aristocrat Cal meets Cool Cat Jim. Keep on truckin’, pal.
Paul Zink ’73