Huckleberries Online

P.S. — “Big Jim”: A Beloved Ex-Californian, RIP

Posted by DFO

April 10, 2006 6:01 p.m. • 0 comments

Issue: Good-bye, ‘Big Jim’: Friends honor late owner of Athol, Idaho, tavern/Erica Curless, Spokesman-Review

Key Paragraph: Big Jim (shown above in family photo) was born in Minnesota on the 200th birthday of President George Washington, Feb. 22, 1932, the oldest of six children. After high school, Big Jim served in the U.S. Army. He soon moved to southern California and worked at a paper mill for 32-years.

DFO: I was struck that Big Jim and his wife, Syd, bought the bar in the late 1980s and then became a fixture in Athol after they moved from California to run it. Joe Peak of the Enaville Resort also is an ex-Californian, I believe.

Question: Do California immigrants play a bigger role in the Inland Northwest than we’re willing to admit?

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About this blog

D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.