Re: Dr. James Cooke Brown

["Bob LeChevalier (lojbab)" <lojbab@lojban.org>]

At 06:26 AM 02/15/2000 -0500, Alex Leith wrote:
>This is a sad day for Loglanists everywhere.
>
>Jim Brown passed away on Sunday morning, in a hospital
>in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, half way through the cruise round
>South America which he was enjoying with his wife Evy.
>
>He loved the sea, and had sailed his own boat across the Atlantic
>several times, so I like to think this is the way he might have
>chosen to cross the bar.
>
>We shall all sorely miss him: let's ensure that the language he
>invented and loved remains and grows, as his most fitting memorial.

On behalf of The Logical Language Group, I wish to express my condolences 
both to the TLI community, and to his family, upon the death of Dr. James 
Cooke Brown.

As for myself, I am deeply saddened by Jim Brown's death, and by the enmity 
that persisted between us for altogether too long.

I first met Jim Brown in 1979 when we both lived in San Diego, and 
established a personal friendship with him that lasted even as he moved to 
Florida and I to Washington DC.  I was a largely inactive supporting member 
of TLI during the next 6 years, but worked with Jim supporting several 
projects including the work that became known as GMR.  I was always 
impressed by his leadership, his personal charisma, and his commitment to 
the seemingly quixotic language project he led.  (JCB had a statuette of 
Don Quixote in his working area, and I once remarked to him how he 
resembled the image of the Don both physically and in his lifetime work.) I 
was drawn into the project by JCB's charisma and his friendship, rather 
than by my inherent interest in artificial languages.

Not all that many Loglanists know of the other sides of Jim Brown, science 
fiction writer, utopian, political activist, sailor, game inventor (he 
helped invent other games besides Careers, but none made it to market).  In 
all his activities, he lived life to its fullest and gave his all.  I was 
enriched in having a chance to see some of these other aspects of Jim Brown.

When JCB had his first life-threatening illness in 1986, he asked me to 
visit him, as one of the few Loglanists who was still working on the 
project after politics nearly destroyed the community in 1983-4.  Jim's 
fears of his mortality and the possible collapse of his beloved language 
project moved me, and I made the personal commitment to him in friendship 
and respect that I would work to see that his language work continue and 
thrive regardless of his health and life.  Everything I have done since, as 
a Loglanist, and in starting and leading the effort we originally called 
"Lojban - A Realization of Loglan", has been in dedication to fulfilling 
that personal commitment to JCB, as well as the added commitment to the 
greater Loglan community that supported my efforts to revive a then 
languishing project.

Unfortunately, the way I chose to do this, initially undertaken on my own 
while JCB was away in Europe recovering from his illness while sailing on 
his boat, caused him to distrust me and my motives.  I regretted this 
distrust and for 6 years continued to offer rapprochement, even while JCB 
felt compelled as leader of TLI to threaten me and the budding Lojban 
effort legally.  Once the legal issue was settled and the survival of 
Lojban (and thus Loglan) was assured, I have tried to be circumspect and 
non-critical as an observer, while you of the TLI community helped Jim 
Brown rebuild his own efforts.  While Jim Brown never forgave me, I would 
like to think that my actions towards the TLI community have been in 
keeping with my original commitment to him.

Between the two organizations, I believe that Loglan will survive and 
thrive as a language and as a research project.  Let us ensure this, that 
we work together to ensure that Dr. James Cooke Brown's legacy - his 
Language and his Project - prove worthy of the life and love that he gave 
it over the years as the Father of Loglan.  I will be working towards these 
ends, and offer to Alex and the leadership of TLI, my cooperation in 
pursuit of this.

mi'e lojbab/Hue Lojbab
----
lojbab                                             lojbab@lojban.org
Bob LeChevalier, President, The Logical Language Group, Inc.
2904 Beau Lane, Fairfax VA 22031-1303 USA                    703-385-0273
Artificial language Loglan/Lojban:  http://www.lojban.org (newly updated!)