Remembrance - Jim Cumberton |
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Jim Cumberton Died, 20th January 2011 PLEASE NOTE: Scottish Addiction Studies has established an online form for friends and colleagues to leave their memories and thoughts of our dear friend. Your memories will be added to this site. If you would like to leave a message about Dr. Mandelbrote, please click HERE. I first met Jim at a WFTC conference in 1978 in Rome. At the time, I was pioneering a number of interventions we we would later classify as "harm reduction". Jim was rightly sceptical and argued (very heatedly) with me
that the problem with initiatives of this kind was that you lose control of the boundaries and have no control over how far they go and the damage they might do. How right he was! How naive I was!
My only defence was youth!!
We corresponded over the years but didn't meet again until years later at an EFTC conference in Marbella. We spent a great deal of time together on that occasion and found much that we could agree upon (and much we could laugh about). We travelled back to the airport together at the end of the conference and I remember Jim enthusiastically commenting on a paper I was writing on therapeutic community populations. As an ex-journalist, he had a great eye for a well-turned phrase and he made a number of suggestions during that taxi ride that I later incorporated into the final draft. He was a kind and generous man who felt the hurt of addiction very deeply and never stopped caring about young people on drugs and never stopped believing in the TC approach. We have lost a loyal friend and ally.
Snr. Researcher, Scottish Addiction Studies & Vice President, EFTC Only the best of memories of Jim. He sheperded my visit to Coolmine TC some 30 years ago; and we would meet along the way in conferences and meetings, sharing concerns about TCs in warm and engaging conversations that reflected who he was. Jim's force in the field was steady encouragement. I remember him with a smile.
George De Leon Former Director, Center for Therapeutic Community Research Jim was a charming man and we met on frequent occasions on his trips to London, he got involved in EFTC when attracting member countries was not easy, and fell right into the trap off becoming president later- so letting me of the hook for another term! May he rest in peace David Tomlinson Former CEO, Phoenix UK & Former President, EFTC Leave your own message or memory here View other TC pioneer remembrance pages here |
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