JayJamJah R.I.P.
 

It is my sad duty to inform the forum that JayJamJah who posted here for a number of years passed away earlier this year.

I was informed by his son Jayson who is looking to hear about any memories or stories you may have of Jay whilst he was on the forum.

I've started this thread with Jayson's blessing and he has agreed to spend some time posting on the forum to tell us more about his Father and his life. He will be using his Father's old account but the name has been changed to 'Son of JayJamJah'.

So if you have any stories of Jay, questions you'd like to know about Jay or if you'd just like to take this opportunity to say goodbye to him please do.

I always respected his insight, he was one of the most intelligent posters on this forum, and it goes without saying that he will be greatly missed.

I'm so sorry for your loss, Jayson.

RIP.

RIP JamJam, I'll never forget your beautiful banana avatar xxx

I know a lot of the newer members may not be familiar with him as it's been a while since he was a regular poster, but I had the privilege of crossing paths with him quite a bit and really liked him a lot. He was intelligent, articulate, kindhearted and a great person to discuss (and occasionally debate) music with. I missed him already due to his absence, but knowing that he is truly gone I feel that a hole has been left in this community.

People who came to this place after him probably know a few of his threads which continue to live on, such as "Most Underrated/Overrated Artists" and "Guilty Pleasures", but the one I always remember him for is "Ashes to Ashes: A reintroduction to my personal music library", where he talked about reassembling his entire music collection after losing it all in a fire.

My deepest condolences to his family and friends.

If I remember correctly, he was the guy who started the interview thread. He took a lot of time to get this community moving in the right direction, making us people rather than posters, getting to the interesting parts of the person, rather than the surface caricature that most people appear to be.

He was perennially civil, direct but insightful, and he made this community a better place.

R.I.P. Jx3

My deepest condolences to JayJamJah's family and friends.

I had the greatest of respect for "JJ", not just for his huge knowledge of music, but also as a person. I counted him among the handful people on these boards I would consider a friend.
He came across as an enthusiastic member, always willing to help others and never seemed to have a bad word to say about anyone.
"JJ" was a man of strong opinion, but I don't think I ever saw him get involved in any of the forum fights, but instead would be one of the first to mediate.
Probably the best Moderator this site never had.
His threads were always original, informative and never boring.
Like Janszoon says his thread 'Ashes to Ashes' was one that I'll remember him most for as it's one of my favourite member journals.

Jayson, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you to be proud of your father...but I'm going to anyway. :)
Thanks for letting us know. I know he'd be proud of you.

Rest in peace my friend.

Nicely put, Brennan.

I really liked Jay. He helped me with my homework once. I remember spamming "make em say uuuuugh" in the shoutbox once, and he responded with "nanana" which is the chorus to a really ****ty master p song.

When i asked how someone of his age and intellect knew of master p he replied with something like "i had a teenage son once"

So jayson your pops was a pretty cool dude.

I'm sorry to hear about your father 'Son of JayJamJah'. I do recall, that I always enjoying reading post by (JayJamJah).

thanks to Richard for doing this for me and everyone here who had taken the time to comment already. I've been informed that my father was pretty private on here but that is consistent with who he was in his everyday life. I'd open to sharing any of the aspects of his life some of you might have wondered about in the hopes of gaining an occasional dialogue and further memories of Dad.

I really appreciate the kind words and encourage memories of all kinds to be shared. I regret not being closer to him despite his best efforts to keep a general distance between most of the people in his life. His letters to me and my siblings (which led me here among other online nitches he carved on the internet) were a reminder of everything that made my Dad so special to me. He had a never ending passion for people and ideas but was (in his mind) to emotionally vulnerable to let anyone get close for more than a moment at a time.

Searching through his posts here so far I see some moments that I imagine brought his great joy. Even when my Dad and I didn't talk much I could always count on a letter or email once a week that would have me crying, laughing or reaching for the phone to tell him I love him (though he never answered) When my Dad wrote he was happy. He wrote a lot here, I see that an know he cared about the people here in his own way.

Thanks again to everyone, my name is Jayson and I will check in here as much as I can.

Condolences on your loss. I can't remember specific discussions I had with your father, but I do remember always leaving them with a new perspective on things and much food for thought. Thanks for letting us know he didn't just bored with the place. May he be in peace wherever he is (or at least listening to Hendrix and Zappa jamming it out).

A huge scotch raised to you at this time. Your father was awesome and I am at a time of loss too.

R.I.P

God, that's awful. Deepest thoughts with the family. I always remember JayJamJah as the guy who said he was married to someone famous. Dunno why it stuck in my head. Anyways, deepest condolences with you and the rest of your family Jayson.

R.I.P.

Rest in peace, JayJamJah. One of the kindest members I've met on this forum.

Sorry to hear about JayJamJah passing, my sympathies for your loss Jayson.

Literally the most well rounded person I've ever met on the internet.
RIP

Your father helped me in a very personal way that most forum members here don't know about. When he was running the interviews thread, I was next in line for an interview. I had a pre-interview chat with him on AOL to round out some of the basics for the one that would be printed. That conversation had a profound impact on me that I wish your fathe could have known about before he left this place.

A few forum members may recall me posting that I graduated from high school at a very early age, as I had opted for home schooling after negative experiences around people my own age. If I'm not mistaken, your father was a teacher, correct? In any case, he gave me some very valuable advice about dealing with people. Sometimes you have to accept people's faults – whether they be easy ones, things that they don't do on purpose, things that I had already learned to accept from people – or more difficult things, such as people's close mindedness or willfull ignorance. I had become so judgmental of people who just didn't "get it", people who didn't care, people who I felt were so stupid and immature and air headed, that I actually impeded my own quality of life by avoiding situations where those people might be completely. I had secluded myself because of my own pride. I wasn't learning to deal with negatively influential people in the right way, I was only avoiding them.

Whether he meant to or not, your father helped me to see that I needed to calm my judgemental mind, and accept that there will always be people who I don't like – in any situation. But that doesn't mean they're monsters, they're just people.

Now I'm friends with just about every Tom, Dick and Harry I meet. I'm incredibly easy-going since letting go of my own pretentious pre-judgements. Your father was a big part of that, and he never even knew it.

Rest in peace, my friend.

While I never had the pleasure of knowing him more directly than just in passing threads, I've always known him as being highly active in the community and a strong part of what has made this forum shine and be one of the best ones I have ever been to.

His dedication and work has made something like going to a forum enjoyable for its community rather than just for information on whatever the forum is dedicated to.

May he rest in peace.