Scribbling

James Fulton McLarty, 61, died suddenly March 25th while white-water kayaking on the St. George River with paddling companions from the Penobscot Paddle and Chowder Society. His life ended while he was doing one of his favorite things on a river he knew and loved. An avid sportsman, Jim included fly fishing, hiking, rock climbing, bowling (of a sort), target shooting, mountaineering and camping among his pursuits.

As a member and past president of the Georges River Chapter of Trout Unlimited, he was instrumental in fund-raising efforts that resulted in the removal of a decrepit dam on the Sennebec and the building of a rock-ramp-style dam which preserved Sennebec Pond and allowed fish passage for miles up stream. This project made his chapter one of the top three in the U.S. for public service. Jim also helped present fly fishing and fly tying classes for area kids. He was an expert fly tier himself, and created many innovative designs and “improvements”? on classic patterns.

For the last few years the chapter hired Jim as River Monitor of the St. George River, where he oversaw the collection of data on the watershed. He was also long-time editor of the chapter’s newsletter, the Mainstream, and an active member of the Maine Outdoor Adventure Club (MOAC).

Jim’s expertise extended to many topics and his willingness to share this knowledge was legendary among his friends. Areas of expertise included photography, mountaineering, gear testing, gardening, cooking (including making the world’s best popcorn), birding, geography and travel, movies, rock and roll, history, religion and the correct way to do just about everything. Affectionately known as Bubba, he was often seen about town in his Rafiki truck and probably will be missed at Rankins and Maine Sport, his homes away from home.

Jim was a North Carolina native, born in Asheville of The Reverend James B. and Margaret G. McLarty. His father, grandfather, and uncle were all Methodist ministers. As a result of his father’s ministry, Jim lived in many small North Carolina towns before coming to Black Mountain, the home of the “White House” (an extensive social coalition that grew out of a common party house that was rented so people wouldn’t have to trash their own houses and which also provided shelter for any of its members between spouses, jobs, or other life-changing events). A founding member, Jim also coined their slogan while on his first trip to Africa when promised correspondence never arrived. In Kiswahili it is “Kula mavi na kufa”?, pretty strong language for a man whose harshest expletive was “phooie!”?. (Hint: kula means eat.)

Jim graduated from Charles D. Owen High School in 1965 in Black Mountain after attending Berea Foundation School in Berea, Kentucky. He received a degree in Sociology from Guilford College, a Quaker institution, in 1969. He was a gentle man (if you don’t count firing carrots from a sling-shot at bird-feeder-raiding squirrels), and served as a conscientious objector at the Duke University Medical Library.

In 1970 he founded The Trail Shop, a mountaineering outfitter, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. When he grew tired of hearing about the exciting trips taken by others, he sold the shop in 1974 and set off on an adventure of his own. He made it pretty far on his world tour, and Afghanistan was a favorite locale. A two-week safari in Kenya turned into a year-long exploration of the Kenya-to-South Africa portion of the continent. He was truly smitten by all things African and this laid the foundation for much of the rest of his life.

Upon his return to the United States in 1976, Jim attended the Maine Photographic Workshops where he met Chris Page, his wife-to-be and fellow Tar Heel, when she ordered him out of the darkroom because his class’s time was up. They attended the three-month resident program and established a lasting friendship with photographer Richard Procopio who became a fellow sportsman and fishing buddy. In fact, Jim had many fishing buddies (you know who you are!).

Jim returned to Africa to teach high school in Kenya’s Western Province with the Friends Service there and to put his well-trained and sensitive photographer’s eye to use. He made Camden his permanent home in 1977 and when Chris returned to the Workshops to teach in 1980, he welcomed her into his life. After being married in 1981 and leaving MPW where they both worked, Jim and Chris went on an extended honeymoon (1983-1984) to Kenya where Chris caught Jim’s love for Africa and where the seeds of their safari company took root.

Their first trip devoted five months to traveling with and photographing the NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) Kenya Adventure Program, time which included climbing Mount Kenya, wilderness hiking, and four weeks of snorkeling in the Malindi section of the Indian Ocean. Their company, Rafiki Safaris made its first trip in 1989. “Rafiki”? means friend in Kiswahili and Jim both took many friends on safari and made many friends while in Africa.

Out of the safaris grew Rafiki Books, a mail-order book and travel gear company specializing in field guides, books on Africa, and the gear you’d tell your friends to not travel without. Also on their return to Camden in 1984 Jim and Chris established Silverline Studio, a photography and graphic design business.

Jim was predeceased by his parents James and Margaret McLarty, a much- beloved English teacher, and his little pet hen, Buckley. He is survived by his sister Eileen Fulton of New York City, who is widely known as Lisa on “As the World Turns” and as a cabaret diva, and his brother Charles McLarty, an architect, Charles’s wife Karen and their daughter Kate of Charlotte, North Carolina. He is also survived by Chris, his wife of 25 years, who knows the right way to do everything as the result of sharing her life with this quirky, funny, talented autodidactic gentleman.

Anyone who wishes to celebrate Jim’s life should plan to be at Beaver Lodge on Alford Lake on Sunday, June 10, 2007, for a day-long “Bubba Fest”. Details will be available through silverline@rafikisafaris.com as they develop. Memorial gifts can be made to the Georges River Chapter of Trout Unlimited (via Paul McGurren at Maine Sport in Rockport) or to the Jim McLarty Evergreen Fund at TD Banknorth in Camden. Thanks to Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home who helped in this transition. In lieu of any church service, Chris will celebrate Easter with an egg hunt. It was Bubba’s special pleasure to hide the eggs, and Chris’s pleasure to find them. Feel free to come by and hide an egg on Easter. Bring your own egg. It will liven up spring garden clean up.