Digital Workshop

Those of you who are long term users of Opus and formerly Illuminatus will need no introduction to Jim Wolfmeyer.

I started with Illuminatus in 1998, found the forum, and soon became familiar with Jim's star personality, quirky good humour and helpfulness. Like all of you I was saddened to hear of his passing. It was my intention to write a few lines of commemorative verse to add to the tributes that poured in but Jim had a powerful way of communicating and the strength of his personality came through and the verse turned into a country song. Ol' Jim (Magic in Them Feet)

It has taken me a few years and a lot of setbacks but it has now been recorded in Nashville by George Clark (no relation) and is now available as a digital download from iTunes etc..

The full story of how a thrown away banknote led to discovering Illuminatus and how the song came to be written can be read here.

http://www.clarkscript.com/oljim/ol-jim ... -feet.html

If you listen to it and like it, I would appreciate a review on the download sites.

Best wishes

William

William Clark

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSt ... 0&s=143444

viewtopic.php?t=258

William I am over-awed by what you have done for the memory of Jim.

After downloading the song "Ol' Jim" I wrote this review for iTunes:

Jim was a friend of mine over many years until his untimely death. The verses and tune of this song capture the essence of Jim's personality. I am not ashamed to admit that listening to this song brought tears to my eyes. My music tastes were wider than those held by Jim who would often claim that "There are only 2 types of music worth listening to: 'Country' and 'Western'." This makes "Ol' Jim" a most appropriate memorial to the man.

Both the writer of the verses (William Clark) and the singer (George Clark) have done a fantastic job in providing a memorial to a man who will never be forgotten by those who knew him.

To make this review perhaps more meaningful, I perhaps need to come clean. For years I posted on this forum as Sentosa. One day while editing my profile, I screwed up my ability to access the forum by using Sentosa. On the very rare occasions that I now post, I use the name Esmerelda.

William

I echo Esmeralda's words totally without hesitationeven though I'm unable to download your song from Shanghai, China where I am at the moment.

I count myself as being one of the fortunate people who met Jim on the old Illuminatus forum/

I will again try to download your song on returning to Australia at the end of this month

Good luck with the song and thank you for your tribute to a friend.

Regards

Graham

Esmeralda
Thank you very much for your kind comments.

Jim had a way of communicating his personality through posts that I have never seen equalled. I think all of us who were regular readers of the old Illuminatus forum were very privileged to have met a true character and a great representative of the best of American qualities. I spent a lot of my youth reading Westerns and I think I saw Jim as a real live cowboy punching software rather than cattle.

The great thing about being a songwriter (especially for a man) is it lets you express some of the emotions that we normally keep reserved. Mostly I like to write love songs inspired by delightful ladies with poetic names but occasionally great character and personality lights up the creative mind.

Graham
Many thanks for your thoughts.

With a bit of effort I hope to bring the song to a wider audience.

Best wishes
William

William you are a champion mate! All of us from the old Illuminatus school/forum who knew Jim thank you for your heartfelt tribute to him.
He is certainly still missed in our community....

German

Thank you for your response -- Jim's ability to reach people never ceases to amaze me. Mike Dunbar, who produced the song, told me he felt like he had known him personally.

I have a regular blog where I discuss the meanings of proverbs and sayings, and this Sunday I chose "A friend in need is a friend indeed"

http://www.clarkscript.com/blog/

Best wishes

William

Jim lived west of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I live about 90 miles south of there, west of Chicago. We often talked by telephone about Illuminatus questions. I drove up and met Jim. He was a kind and generous man. I took his picture that day.

Out of the blue, his company laid him off. "Economic cut-back" was the stated reason. Then they asked him to teach his secretary everything he was doing with the training modules he built. I don't think he ever recovered from that shock. Jim was retired from the US Army, so he had a very small pension. His wife was from Canada. They decided to sell their home, buy a recreational vehicle (RV), and travel around the US. Jim would only occasionally be able to check-in on the Illuminatus Forum from then on.

I didn't know it then, but Jim had a drinking problem. Being let go, and not being able to find another job pushed him over the edge. His sister-in-law, who was a nurse, wrote and told me he died of complications from his drinking. That was a terrible shame.

The last time I saw Jim was when he drove his RV to my home, on his way out west. We laughed, had dinner, and talked about his favorite subject -- Illuminatus. Whenever DW made a beta version, Jim would take it and work with every feature to prove they worked. He was amazing. He found things no one else could find. Look in OPUS' HELP in the "About.." section. Read the Credits. You'll see "In memory of Jim Wolfmeyer." That's how important Jim was to the original OPUS product.

We all owe Jim a debt of graditude for his testing, and all the help he freely gave to anyone with a question. Jim -- you are missed!

Fred

Thank you for that.

It is heart-wrenching to know that Jim, who helped so many, had such a tough time in his final days. We can only hope he went to a better place where good guys come first.

Thank you also for permission to use your photograph. I have incorporated it into a video compilation of period army clips to go with the song. I am attempting to have this made available on iTunes and the plan is to donate any profits from the video element to veteran's charities.

This project has been bedevilled by setbacks so I don't expect plain sailing but we must always battle on.

Best wishes

William

I'm a month late to this thread, but I think about Jim often, and his presence is sorely missed. I hope his family knows how much he meant to so many people they will never meet.

If I remember correctly, his signature line mentioned the historic Route 66 highway in the USA. I think of him any time I see a reference to Route 66.
--Mark