I shared a room with him and his wife for the Winnipeg Westercon. He was a real fan of alternative fiction and active in the Sideways awards for works in that genre. He and his wife were hoping for a baby and ended up adopting a daughter. He was very intelligent.
Knowing this was coming for him does not lessen the blow on you - family, or on his legions of friends, who also loved him, dearly. A memory I can share is when he and my sister, Lois Johnston, planned to see Deep Purple at the Hara Arena. She got injured, so I was substituted in from the bench. I quickly became so bored (an unsophisticated 13 or 14 year old who still perfered Donnie Osmand or the BeeGees.), It was my first concert. There was so much pot being smoked , I got a huge high off of it. (Another first). Jim was kind and funny.