Gary Barker
I am so very sorry to hear of Jim's passing. Jim was a good man with a big heart and an infectious laugh. I would see him regularly in the Chronicle art department, when I was dropping off an illustration. He and his partner, Ed Rachles, were always up to something there, seldom having anything to do with work.
Jim was a master at type faces, drawing them by hand in the early days before computers—a remarkable skill to have mastered. He always came up with the perfect look for each project, breathing life into the mastheads of iconic publications around the world.
Jim was one of the good ones. I'll carry his memory in my heart.