Alan Kellogg says goodbye to James Adams

Departure leaves a void
The Edmonton Journal
Sun Apr 9 1989
Page: F8
Section: Entertainment
Byline: ALAN KELLOGG
Column: ALAN KELLOGG
Source: THE EDMONTON JOURNAL

Is there anything more irritating than an aging media hack who uses his/her forum to endlessly chronicle the passage of an old crony?

Ahem.

Tuesday, our friend and colleague James Adams jumps into his new Japanese car, points it towards Yorkton, (first stop: the original Holiday Inn, not affiliated with the latecomer U.S. chain of the same name) en route to scenic, springtime Toronto.

As you may have read, Jim has ended a 12-year stint with this humble rag in favor of a new career in publishing, as senior paperback editor at McClelland and Stewart. By this reading, the parties will have been finished, the gifts given, the Lampoon-style books section duly presented, the boxes off to storage. It's not a process humans on either side of the leaving like much -- especially someone like Jim, not necessarily comfortable under the relative glare of the Kliegs, not given to public demonstrations of emotion, notwithstanding the internal sturm und drang.

All of this is our business here, to be sure. In our own way, his friends will notice the impact of Jim's departure in silly, everyday events -- a magazine piece only he would get the complete joke on that you can't share any more, a new wirephoto of Jerry Garcia arriving, another bone-headed move by George Bush, Ernie Isley or Julian Kinisky that he'd (literally) slap his head about -- whatever.

But seeing the arts-cultural community (call it what you will) lose another bright light has wider implications. Unlike many in our business who make a public show of civic interest while desperately trying to get out, Jim genuinely digs this town, as he might put it after a Black Label or two. And, although his career at The Journal, like any other job, has had its share of disappointments, he leaves this place of his own volition with little animus, grateful for the opportunities he's been given. As he says in public and privately, after 14 years in journalism and 12 in these halls, he simply wanted a change. The offer was reasonable and intriguing.

The direct losses are apparent: the Alberta literary scene loses an enthusiatic, diligent supporter, as does the jazz-pop music milieu. The Journal records a loss of one of its best writers, with a voice and clear perspective that cannot be replaced. And yup, those of us who have watched him devour a lunch of liver n' onions with a chocolate shake at the Silk Hat lose daily contact with a friend you could confide in, a guy who could make you laugh, consider, re-assess.

For me, Jim, a westerner in every true sense of the word, helped to reinforce the fact that the stereotypical Albertan was just that -- a cartoon. This is our place too, and to keep in touch with the world, to harbor progressive political views, to remain true to time-honored principles and er, to dress in natural fibres, was absolutely normal, desirable. That for all our foibles, Edmonton had little to apologize about to any other city in Canada.

I laugh to think about the fuss he'll cause in his own understated way down at M&S, a fine publishing house but a literal cell of central Canadian thinking. Expecting to find another westerner truly honored to bask in the rays of the Power Source, darn lucky to be out of the cultural dung-hole they came from, Jim's new colleagues will discover their own burg's many shiny spots exposed with a wry one-liner or two. And their own misperceptions about this place carefully pointed out.

We couldn't have a better ambassador, but it remains in the red column, a loss. This city will never be quite the same any more, and I must say the old yardstick of leaving a place better than you found it comes to mind. Adios, amigo.