James Grassby: curious, furious and fun.

• Author: Atkins, Michael
• Position: PRESIDENT'S NOTE - In memoriam

There were days when Jim Grassby was insufferable. I mean, you would arrive for your Sunday morning gabfests that would include anywhere from three to 10 other keeners and he would be onto something and he wouldn't stop. Maybe the City of Sudbury was wasting more money or the provincial government had turned down funding for one of his preferred charities, or worse, someone with money was not giving what Jim considered to be an appropriate donation and he just couldn't understand why.

He'd be asking for advice but it was really a thinly disguised - well, not even remotely camouflaged -call to action. ... your action. What are you going to do about this, Mike? I would frequently answer: "I'm going to order a cup of coffee and some bacon and eggs and I'm not going to speak until you can lay off and allow me to get my eyes open." Other attendees had their own strategies for coping when Jim was in full flight.

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Jim was a force of nature. He had a combination of traits you just don't normally find in the same human being. He was an engineer and he demanded innovation and efficiency He held patents on new processes which he invented at Inco when something annoyed him enough to solve the problem himself.

Jim had a heart the size of Northern Ontario. His signature accomplishment in his retirement years was his support for the Sudbury Action Centre for Youth which was established to help children at risk. Jim could not abide lost potential. It would bring him extraordinary joy to see a young man or woman clawed back from the depths of despair and hardship to find their potential. He would do a jig.

Good people come in all sorts of shapes and sizes but what set Jim apart beyond his enormous capacity for action was his true outrage about the injustice he saw around him. Jim told the truth. It was uncomfortable. He would look you straight in the eye, describe a situation or circumstance or a need, and demand a response.

You would get up in the morning feeling perfectly adequate and by the time Jim was done with you, you had either made a commitment of action or you felt guilty about not. The thing about Jim is that he walked the talk. He didn't waste time on niceties. He just got to work.

Whether Jim was helping start the volunteer fire department in Lockerby 60 years ago, or sitting on the board of Theatre du Nouvel-Ontario without benefit...