James "Big Man" Maxton

I was deeply moved by the documentary i say featuring this amazing man, rest in peace. If anyone knows the mane of it , i would appericate it

Big....

I am so late...this what i felt the day I met you. I am so very late. There isn't enough time, and yet...God gave me 5 years...and I am so incredibly grateful.



I will never forget.

My dear BigMan,

Best friend, I love you so very

deeply and I miss you.

How to say goodbye to someone as sweet and kind as you is beyond Me.

I can hear your sweet voice in my

mind, I can hardly believe you're

not here anymore. All of My love always!

Loving You,

DeLaney

To Family and Friends,



My deepest sympathies. I have not had the pleasure to know Mr. Maxton, but I knew of him through my sister, Staci Robinson. She was so fond and moved by him as a man, a co-worker, and a VERY good friend.



May god bless and keep you healthy!



Monica Payne

Big, words can not express the emptiness I feel since you are not at the village anymore. I know that NOW you are FREE to walk, run, jump and skip all around the throne of glory. So I say walk my brother, run my friend, until we meet again. Much Luv Peace

Uncle Big,

There are no words to explain how I'm feeling right now. I just want the family to know that I love yall and I'm here for yall in this grieving time.

Uncle Big you was the light that shined on me and you will never be forgottened and always in my heart.

Love always

mamma Clara & the kids

Dear one,



You, who was so taken with the Philadelphia Eagles, was yourself a bird...a phoenix reborn from the ashes of your past, channeling the fire to create. You transformed yourself as you teamed with Lily and so many others to transform your neighborhood. Big Man, your vision and heart spread the art of possibility and connection through the Village and beyond. Thank you for the beauty that you brought to the neighborhood and to me. May the angels and guardians you placed throughout the Village continue to watch over those who follow in your footsteps. With love, Sarah

My deepest sympathy to the family.

Dear Deborah and family,

This is not as personnal as I would like but comes with God's love and warm thoughts and heart felt grief for both you and your family. Remember that God is closs to the broken hearted. Psalm 34:18 May He stay close to you all.



It's in the name of Jesus that I wish this for your family.



God bless you all.



Sheila Greer (NAB)

To: James 'Big Man' also known as 'Sammy' Maxton



Brother-in-law, Uncle and Great Uncle. Gone but not forgotten. You will always be in our memories and in our hearts. We know that you are painting on that big easel in the sky.



"Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord." Psalm 31:24



Love,

Shirley Maxton

Micah, Fatima, Mia and Daniel Gaddy

Dear James "Big Man" Maxton,

I did not know you but reading about you wish I had met such a great Man. God Bless you with a gift that I wish a lot of Brothers would express. Wish I had the opportunity to have met you. I know you will be miss.

I knew "Big Man" through my sister and it has been a pleasure to see a man take something negative from the neighborhood and turn it into something positive. "Big Man" you will be surely missed, but you will always have special place an many hearts, God Bless

Big was a very close and dear friend of mine. We go back way back if you know what I mean...WAY BACk. He gave his heart and soul to me and the people in this community. He was a scholar and had a vision but all at end he was my friend.



Always loving,

Skeeter Brown

"BIG MAN" it was truly a pleasure to be acquainted with you, such a kind and caring man.



Connie Pointer

Thanks always, Big Man, for choosing to pursue Joy wholeheartedly. From the first time I met you at the Village in 1994, your warm spirit and exuberant mosaics radiated an invitation to fullness of Life. You carried that message to State College in 2002 when you and Kelly spoke at Penn State (and again when Penn Staters visited the Village). The seeds of hope that you planted have helped inspire Penn Staters to work with Harrisburg community members on festivals, murals, and green spaces. I and others will continue to draw from the well of your spirit, story, and legacy of restoring and celebrating life through art.



Forever grateful for these gifts,

I, along with so many other people was blessed to have known such a man as "Big Man". I was fortunate enough to know him in Thomasville, N.C., where he starred as a football player for Church Street School. When I moved to Philadelphia, his family became my family. As a teenager, I always considered him to be my friend and protector. He will be missed but always remembered.



God's Blessings and my love,

Dear Big Man,

I plan to come to the Village and view your art. When I close my eyes I can see it undulating, sparkling, and feel its life. Your light and life will live on forever in the Village.

How lucky the people of Philadelphia are that you left your mark in this ground zero of blight.

The lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people will be enriched by your struggle from the hell of drugs to the heaven of light.

We love you, Big Man.

Dear Uncle Big,

I‘ll miss you; your words of wisdom and encouragement. Even though I may have thought that I knew everything you show me there so much more to learn. I wish to become at least half the man that you were. You show me and others that anything possible through faith and perseverance. I guess your sister Nancy (My mother) saw greatness in you, that it why she Named me James after her big brother, I just hope to live up to it. (Your Nephew James)

Dear Big Man,

The inspiration you brought to North Philadelphia will be alive forever.

I am so sorry you missed the Eagles' Super Bowl party which is now in your honor.

A big light went out at the Village when we lost our beloved Big Man. He was a giant bundle of strength and delight. We cried over his shoulder when things got rough. He took everyone into his heart in a most caring and nonjudgmental way. He was everyone's very special friend; he listened and understood. I was heart broken and looked for him the morning he passed away. Then I found him beckoning to me everywhere in the gardens and parks at the Village through his wondrous sculptures and mosaic art. Big Man has endured untold sufferings. Yet what he expressed through his art and his being was jubilance and joy. He taught me the essence of human dignity and love. I carry him in my heart.

I'll always love you "BIG" I'll never forget you

Love always BUBBA

god loved him and saw his greatness through his art and bring happiness to areas that needed it.

I was so inspired by the amazing life of Mr. James Maxton, I wanted to put my thoughts into words to honor him in some small way. I offer this token of art, to a great artist, Mr. James Maxton.



~~~~~~~~~~



For Mr. James Maxton

N. Phila.



“Big Man”

I never knew you, but

I wish I did.



Drug-Demon

Choke-Hold

Pulling at your sleeve.

When you saw Yeh,

You had your doubts.

Art in the Combat Zone?



Hypnotic Swirl of

Hue and color

Drew you in.

Like a little boy with

Dormant ball and

Hat in hand,

You, wanted to play.



Intoxicating drugs

Supplanted by intoxicating

Grease of Dirty Pigment

Smooth-sharp Glass

Crunching at your feet.

Sun reflecting

Red-Ray

In your

Soft Brown Eyes,

Did the glare make

You Cry?

Hands-with-a-past

Crafted chains of

Mosaic Ethiopian Angels.

2500 Block, Germantown Avenue

Art in the Combat Zone.



“Big Man,”

I want to know.

Do your heavenly angels

Dance and shimmer

With intoxicating swirls of color?

Are you there with hat in hand

Waiting to jump in?

Big Man, I wish I had known you. The world is a better place because of you.

I didn't know him well, but well enough to know him as a sweet man.

Just came upon this loss in the Phila paper. What a transformation in his life. God works in interesting ways. This is a story for "Guidepost."

I just wanted to offer my sincere sympathy to the family and the people of N. Phila.

Go Eagles.

"Big Man" led a big life, touching the souls and minds of everyone who knew him and learned from him. We will miss him forever.