James Kenneth Genden

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June 19, 2022

Dear Alma, I am so sorry for your loss. I remember meeting both you and Jim many many years ago when you were visiting Egypt. You have kept in contact over the years, a skill that I admire you for.

I remember contacting Jim (nearly 19 years ago) when... more

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June 12, 2022

Jim and I met in the summer of 1966. Jim had just completed his first year at Harvard and was living at a Fort Worth Fire Station while working as a summer intern with the City of Fort Worth. At the suggestion of his Rabbi in Chicago, he had reached out... moreJim and I met in the summer of 1966. Jim had just completed his first year at Harvard and was living at a Fort Worth Fire Station while working as a summer intern with the City of Fort Worth. At the suggestion of his Rabbi in Chicago, he had reached out to my dad (then Reform Rabbi in Fort Worth) and my dad introduced us.

In the sweltering heat of Fort Worth summers, Jim went from here to there on a bicycle. At the time. few people in Fort Worth would do that. My first impression of Jim was that he was different, brilliant, and enthusiastic. We became friends and remained friends the rest our lives.

Fast forward to 1972. I was a 3L and Jim a 1L. We were talking about who knows what when I spotted a lump on Jim’s neck. I told him he needed to be checked out by a doctor immediately because I knew that swollen lymph nodes might be a sign of Hodgkin’s disease. Jim went to the doctor, was diagnosed, got the bad news, and proceeded with aggressive medical treatment without skipping a beat in his law school studies. He did so with an exceptionally good spirit under the circumstances, but in the gray of winter it was obvious he needed to have his spirits lifted by doing something other than studying law and angsting about the Vietnam War and Watergate. We got in my car, drove to New Hampshire, and traveled along the Kancamagus highway in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It was a beautiful drive. We stopped by a brook with snow covered rocks under a bright blue sky. Not looking his best after just finishing a round of chemotherapy, Jim nevertheless let me take a few pictures. It was a true Kodachrome moment and proof that Jim was there. From that point on, Jim proceeded through life with that irrepressible spirit of his.

That’s what I will remember most about Jim. Yes, he was brilliant, an independent thinker, someone who did not follow a crowd, a Renaissance man with many interests and a wealth of knowledge. But more important, he was friendly human being who went through life with a positive spirit even when the chips were down.

Jim was a also a fighter for what he believed. Politically, the last few years were, no doubt, extremely trying time for Jim. He saw dark times coming before mny of us were ready to believe him. Always hopeful he could persuade people to see things the way he did, he wrote and shared some brilliant political commentary.

Jim was a good and loyal friend who reached out and made the effort to keep in touch with friends – including those of us who sometimes did not respond in kind.

Alma, it was Jim’s good fortune to meet and his good sense to marry you. Thank you for sharing with us so many beautiful memories of your time together. - Bill Schur, Fort Worth less

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June 12, 2022

Though we knew Jim and Alma only a fraction of the time many of you knew them, we will always remember our marvelous dinners together at restaurants representing all corners of the globe. And of course, reading Jim's email treatises on opera and... more

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June 12, 2022

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May 28, 2022

April 9, 2022

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April 9, 2022 · via iPhone

Alma, I, too, am deeply sorry for your loss. Jim was a good man and I know how deeply you loved one another.

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April 9, 2022

Alma, I am so sorry. I am sad. Te abrazo fuerte.

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