Ode to a Sailor
DONNA CARNES

s a ilor, fleetingmood image of you; eetingmood image of you; a ll sailor in bear grace, r ough hands and poetic dream; e tchedinsunlightatland”send; t eacher in the rough most elegant and simple.

s ailor, you draw me like moon pull; you don”t know how alike you are, you, the sea, and the force of wild wind;

so like the sun, the comfort warmth of you; I will miss you all the days of my life.

1. THE LOSS

Jim Gray went missing without a trace on January 28, 2007, whilst sailing solo to the Farallon Islands on our sailboat Tenacious to put to rest the ashes of his mother, Ann (see Silberman, S. Where is Jim Gray? 2007. Wired Magazine 15(08): 130-139, 154-155). Jim is a beloved father, grandfather, and brother. Jim is my husband, my sweetheart, my companion in adventure, and my Tolkien soulmate. To the family, Jim was in many ways larger than life, and he was always there for us, despite the dense hours he spent beavering away as a brilliant scientist. He had a compelling and seasoned love of the wild sea and mountains. In the many adventures we shared with him, although he sometimes took the path less traveled, we thought him to be bulletproof. We are desolate in our loss of Jim, even as we strive to live as fully as he did. We remain in awe of the efforts Jim’s friends and colleagues have made searching for him, and we are greatly honored by, and find sweet solace in, the tributes friends and colleagues are paying to our lost golden boy.