Many persons before me have talked about Jim as a mathematician, and of his important contributions in many domains of mathematics, there is not much I can add on this subject. I met him for the first time in the winter of 1966-67. I was visiting Chicago for the academic year, and he invited me at Mac Gill for few days to give lectures at the category seminar. At that time he was already a well known mathematician with important contributions. But at that first meeting I discovered the man. A man with a vast culture in many non mathematical domains, a lot of personal charm, a big sense of humor, full of life and love of life. I met him a countless number of times, in Montreal which I visited very often, in Paris where he attend my seminar and gave a few talks, and in many conferences, and my first impression was confirmed and deepened. As all of us, I shall miss him. [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]