West Saint Paul Antiques

I met Jim in the late '90s while working for USAID in Central Asia. When I later needed a consultant with strong civil society credentials for a project in northern Iraq, I recruited Jim. Of course, Jim performed exceptionally well, despite the challenging environment. I will remember Jim for his warmth and professionalism. My heart goes out to his family and friends at this time. Sally Iadarola (ACDI/VOCA, USA)

My heart felt sympathy to Jim's family. I spent almost a year in Bosnia working with Jim, and got to know him as a warm hearted, compassionate person. In spite of all the terrible things that he saw in the countries he served in, he never lost his faith in the essential goodness of man. I miss him and his wonderful sense of humor.
EstherSylvia Firlej-Bennett (Vienna, Austria)

This is sad news to me. My deepest sympathy to Roger and all of Jim's family and friends.

I met Jim at one of the Friday night expat happy hours not long after I arrived in Almaty, where we knew each other for the next seven years. He hosted overflowing crowds, even on the stormiest winter nights, at his weekly "Spaghetti Night". I have a photo of him taking a catnap in an armchair at one of my brunches, holding a bottle of booze we had slipped into his hand! He never failed to get a table together for the yearly Robert Burns dinner and revelled in the bagpipes, haggis and Scottish dancing. He sure looked good in a tuxedo!

I remember Jim as a unique, intelligent, social man with a keen wit who was always the consummate host - even extending to my newly adopted street dog, Jerry, who got up on Jim's brunch table one Sunday and helped himself to leftover salad and pie as the rest of us sat chatting in another room. When discovered, Jim simply said, "Let him!"

Jim cared about his work and, despite a seeming perpetual lack of funds, always made do and made good.
He was the epitome of a global citizen and his legacy is his contributions and the memories all of us have of him.

Our condolences to all the family.I KNEW James in Gozo.He was a nice person .We will miss him especially zooming around his little bike around Gozo.May god bless him .he will always be in our heart.

Our condolences to all the family - what a shock. We knew James in Gozo and he came to see the Northern Lights in Norway with us before moving back to the USA. He was a lovely friend and we shall miss him very much.
Pat and Vic (England)

James was a great friend and buddy, we will miss him and his dry humour, wit and wisdom. i will always remember him in Almaty with Jim Benson and the beginning of the Almaty Malt Whisky Club which is still going today. God bless him.

My deepest condolences to Jim's family. Jim was my Director at Counterpart International/CHAP/Central Asia in Kazakhstan. I remember his unique sense of humor, intellect and kindness. I will miss him and his warm words that he used to sent on every birthday and 8th of March.

Thanks to James Gershin we became Friends. He was our Mentor and Friend for the last 12 years.
And he was a friend of our families members. We are endlessly grateful to him and the memory about James
will be kept in our hearts for good and all. Our deepest condolences to his Family and Friends.
He will be greatly missed by our families.
May he rest in peace.
Sincerely,
EX CHAP/Turkmenistan team (Murad (Afghanistan), Tatyana (Turkmenistan), Lena (Russia), Ayna (France), Nikolay (Turkmenistan), Yuri (Russia))

So many good times we shared. Walks across the rocky Gozo terrain. The trip to Sicily. BBQs, wine and beer festivals. Coffee at Frankie's and many a laugh. The cheeky emails and loan of books.
But most of all your sensitivity, kindness and friendship. James you are sorely missed.
Sincere condolences to your family.

James was my director in the Philippines, a mentor, and a beloved friend. He was a man of great intellect, character, and wisdom. He has touched my life in many special ways and will always be dearly remembered.

James was my lunch buddy on many happy occassions. We were 2 Americans in Gozo. I have missed those lunches since his return to the States...but had enjoyed his witty emails in their place. I am truly saddened to hear about his sudden and unexpected passing. He will be sorely missed.

My deepest condolences to his family. May he rest in peace.

My deepest sympthies to the Gershin family .Loreta

My condolences to Roger and family. James was a great person, clever director and he was my Chief when serviced in the Central Asian Region (Community and Humanitarian Assistance Program).

With sympathy,
Pavel Fesenko, Russia

My condolences to Roger and family. James was a great person, clever director and he was my Chief when serviced in the Central Asian Region (Community and Humanitarian Assistance Program).

With sympathy,
Pavel Fesenko, Russia

Our deepest sympathy to Jim's family from Gozo, Malta where he spent many happy years before moving back to the states. We shared many lovely evenings together including Kindred Spirits gatherings, Burns Nights and other lovely occasions - the first two were founded locally by Jim. We shall miss him dearly and remember him in our prayers always. Elsie and Joseph Xuereb

How sudden and sad!

Jim and I were friends, "walking in the fields" buddies (with my dog, Red), and among other things, Scrabble partners, in that we played almost weekly during my last two years of living on Gozo.

I think of Jim from time to time, especially since I returned to New York City in 2007; we communicated occasionally since I left Gozo, and yes, Jim was a man of mystery.

What was not a mystery though was that Jim had a great wit, and he had his likes, for example:

Gozo, an adventure, his motorbike, his flat, a good laugh, a serious intellectual argument, a good book, frugality, Scrabble, a good meal, a good cigar, and a real good scotch, to name a few.

Condolences, along with kind personal regards, to you and his surviving family.

My deepest sympathies to Jim's family. I only knew Jim for about a year, but every time I've talked with him or seen him, he was a bundle of smiles! He definitely was a joy to talk to and see and will be greatly missed..

Roger my deepest sympathy to you for your loss. I remember Jim when he would visit Byerly's on occassion with you. My prayers are with you during this time of grief and sorrow.
With sympathy,
Victoria Snyder Delray Beach, FL

My condolences to Roger and family. Jim and I grew up together on the north side of Minneapolis. Later, I visited him at Harvard a few times and he showed me the great university and around Cambridge. This was my first big trip away from the Twin Cities to the east coast. I fell in love with Boston and have lived around it for much of my life. I lost track of Jim after that, but heard many stories about his overseas adventures. I would like to have heard more, from him.

Dear Roger and Kathleen,
Our thoughts and prayers are with you at this difficult time. Jim was an amazing person, the stories he could tell were spell binding, thought provoking and created in us our own thoughts of adventure.

Mark and Janice