Book of Remembrance

 
Photos 
·by Luke 
·by Al  
·Lurkers 
·more Lurkers 
·Nationals 99 
·Team Shirts 
·Trent Park 
·Parkers Piece 
·Strange Blue 1 
·Girton 
·James's Spirit Trophy 
 
Memories 
·from John 
·Olivier 
·David M 
·Andy 
·Ian 
·Chris M 
·Matt R 
·Phil 
·Tom 
·Dave McN 
·Mike 
·Mike F | Rik 
·Adrian 
·Alice 
·Tina | Mike J 
·Lucy 
·Kevin 
·Sander 
·Graham 
·Natalie 
·Simon | Stef 
·Luke « 
·Paul 
·David & Van 
·Ico | Steve 
·Dora 
·Chris Mosier 
·Leigh | Toby 
·Al | Roger | Miles  
·Patch | Ken+Maria 
·Peter 
·Teri 
·Michel 
·Arfon 
·Hayley 
·Jason 
·Daniel 
·JD 
·Ken M 
·Chris Palmer 
·Tournaments 
·Trish 
·Sonja 
·Parade 
·Katherine 
·Rohan 
·Paul Blacketer 
·Alex King 
 
·Why? 
 
Funeral 
 
·copyright (c) 

From Luke Walden

The thing I remember most fondly about James is his enthusiasm and excitement. At my first Ultimate Frisbee tournament we camped out at the fields somewhere North of London, and I remember James being up early with his campstove cooking up a lot of bacon and offering it around to everyone who came by. He was so excited to be camping out with the team and so pleased with himself for having the foresight and camp skills to get a good hot meal cooked at 8 AM Sunday morning. He played very well tha day, and all day he kept mentioning how the bacon breakfast was really doing him good and keeping up his energy all day. That first tournament was terrific fun and convinced me that this was the game for me. I think a lot of what made it so fun to be with the team that weekend (in the rain of course) was the warm enthusiasm and youthful energy and excitement of James. I believe he was 15 years old. It was October of 1995 and I've been playing Ultimate ever since.

James made another contribution to the team and to my ultimate experience that I still wear at least every other week. In the Spring of 1997, the team was in need of new kit. I was somehow responsible for this project and when James mentioned a good idea for a T-shirt during a team practice, I commissioned him to draw up a design. When he gave me some drawings and I sent him back some suggestions for improvements, he impressed me by replying that he knew he could make it better and that he would keep on working. Sure enough, the next week he handed me several different versions of a design that would eventually become my favorite T-shirt. He drew a big "SB" in the style of the "S" on Superman's chest for the front. For the back he wrote "Strange Blue" in a very convincing rendition of the "Superman" typeface and the added "Cambridge Ultimate" in a simple yet elegant typeface of his own invention. The royal blue shirts with red and gold graphics were an instant hit with the team and with every team we played that season. We believed that even if we weren't the best team at a tournament, we were certainly the best looking! My favorite picture of the team shows us all ripping open our coats (another rainy tournament, this time in Leicester) to reveal our Superhero identities in the form of James' fantastic shirt design. One of our smaller members is held aloft over our heads, arms outstretched like our patron hero.

I have thought recently of retiring that t-shirt to my nostalgia collection, but now I know that I can't. Another Autumn Ultimate season is gearing up in America and I will need every bit of inspiration I can get while I am trying out for a competetive team in New York. James' shirt will always help me remember to be enthusiastic and energetic and have as much fun as I can while playing hard and trying to fly like Superman. I thank him for that. His playfull good spirit will remain with me.

My best wishes to James' family and friends in this extremely sad time.

Sincerely, Luke Walden


Site last modified Tue Jun 17 09:00:36 BST 2008