James Adams

1944 - 2024

James Adams

Ashfield, MA - The long and adventurous life of James Carmalt Adams came to a peaceful end on the 20th of July at his home in Ashfield. Jim, or Jimbo as he was also known, had been lovingly cared for by Susan Mailler, his partner of 33 years, Barbara D'Arthenay, his former partner and dear friend, his daughter India D'Arthenay-Adams and her husband Luke Meyer, as Jim's health declined over the year preceding his death.

Jim was born to Alice Vonnegut Adams and James Adams, Sr. on June 1st, 1944, in Indianapolis. The family moved to New Jersey where Jim spent an insatiably curious childhood. On warm summer days he'd proudly bring home turtles and frogs and baby birds to show his mother who adored all manner of animals. He loved science and he loved practical jokes, a sometimes dangerous combo.

When Jim was fourteen, on two separate days in September, his parents died and Jim and his three younger brothers, Steve and Tiger and Peter, moved to Cape Cod where they were raised by their aunt and uncle Jane Cox Vonnegut and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. with their cousins-turned-siblings, Mark, Edie, and Nanny.

Jim joined the Peace Corps in the mid-sixties and served in Peru, where his perspective on the world became wildly expanded and led to a parade of explorations and escapades. Among other adventures, Jim built a raft and traveled solo down the Amazon River and Rio Negro from Iquitos, Peru to Manaus, Brazil. He later journeyed down the Vaupes River in Colombia in an old wooden boat with his brother Tiger, who was still a teenager.

In 1970, Jim and Barbara moved to Jamaica and raised goats for eight years before settling in Leverett, where their daughter India was born. One of the greatest joys in Jim's life was to be a father to India. Having been orphaned so young, he never felt sure it was something he could do, but as a surprise to everyone, especially himself, he turned out to be just wonderful at it.

He was skilled at everything he cared about. Jim was a magician with wood. He loved creating graceful curves, and once made a baby's cradle out of oak in the shape of a huge egg. Later he became a beloved nurse, working to help people in the US, Mexico and Canada.

In 1986 Jim got sober, and would remain sober for the rest of his life. He became deeply involved in the world of 12-Step/Alcoholics Anonymous. It was a community that would sustain him right up to the end of his life.

With Susan, Jim shared a love of nature and wildlife, rehabilitating countless animals over the years, as well as tending to their own evolving menagerie. They loved traveling and different cultures, living for periods of time in Mexico, Panama, and then Prince Edward Island, where they found a community of cherished friends.

Through it all Jim greeted everyone he met with a genuine curiosity and an open, unadorned honesty that could be startling at times. Jim could seem gruff and grumpy, but it was all bluster. Just ask his three grandkids, Odette and Eden and Otto. Just ask his siblings and his cousins, his nieces and nephews, his co-workers, that guy he talked to for hours in the park and that long and colorful trail of friends winding across the globe. They'll all tell you the same thing: If you know Jimbo you love Jimbo.

Jim's loss is deeply felt by many. A celebration of Jim will be held in the warmer months of next year.