Hey gang.
Jim Hill here. I am just depressed beyond all possible measure to have to bring you this truly awful news. But Jim Korkis will stop writing for JimHillMedia.com as of today.
Why for? Well, I’ll let Jim explain all the whys and wherefores. But I just want to say this untimely exit is NOT because of some backstage drama. Jim Korkis remains a good … a very good … friend of mine. He’s someone that I will continue to support and promote as being one of the very best Disney and animation historians working today.
And — if I had my druthers — I would continue to publish his always excellent columns ’til the cows came home. But earlier this week … well … Let’s just say that the cows came home extremely prematurely. So now it looks like my plan of having Jim Korkis share his wonderful stories with JimHillMedia.com readers for years yet to come isn’t going to pan out. Which — in a word — sucks.
I mean, I knew that something like this might be in the wind. After all, Jim and I talk quite often. So I was aware of his health concerns and financial challenges. So his unfortunate decision to exit JHM today isn’t exactly a surprise. A huge personal disappointment, sure. But NOT a surprise.
Still — at awful moments like this — it’s important to focus on the up side … so I guess that I should point out that all of the stories that Korkis has written to date for this site will remain up in the JHM archives. Available for any and all to read and enjoy. And should Jim Korkis pick up a pen again and (say) churn out a new article for “Persistence of Vision” or “The Comics Journal,” or maybe even write a book about Walt Disney World, we’ll be the first to tell you about it.
But — beyond that — eh … I’m just too depressed to keep typing right now.
But — before I close here — I just wanted to say … thanks, Jim. Thanks for sharing all of these wonderful stories. You were a truly valued member here at JimHillMedia.com. And you WILL be missed. By me as well as all of JHM’s readers.
Okay. That’s enough yammering from yours truly. Now let me get out of the way (Stop hogging the spotlight, if you will) and let Jim Korkis make a graceful exit.
jrh
It seems like just yesterday that I started contributing columns to JimHillMedia.com. In actuality, it has been almost two months and during that time, I have had the wonderful opportunity to have a forum not only to write about some obscure aspects of Disney history but about a variety of other topics from Sherlock Holmes to the twelve part History of Comic Books as Jim Hill expanded the focus of his website into other areas of Pop Culture.
However, one of the saddest things I have learned over the years is that everything comes to an end. Fortunately, bad things end but sadly good things end as well. Sadly, this column will be ending my contributions to this website.
I’ve enjoyed writing for Jim and he has always treated me professionally and with great kindness. However, my current life is a whirlwind and I must devote my energies elsewhere.
Some of you may be aware that my mom passed away about three months ago and since she was the true “heart” of the Korkis family, we have had some challenges recovering from her loss. In addition, roughly the same weekend I was also diagnosed with prostate cancer. My PSA rating was very high and a biopsy confirmed that I had the beginnings of cancer. (So all of you males over the age of 40 should get your PSA checked every year! That’s my advice!) I had several options but chose surgery and today, as I write these words I am cancer free.
Unfortunately, there were a few minor physical complications from the surgery which are still causing me some challenges and discomfort but should ease in time. As soon as I spent seven weeks recovering from surgery, I had to accompany my dad to the hospital where they had to replace his entire pacemaker because two lead wires had gone bad and the pacemaker was constantly beeping. And, don’t get me started on my car problems where I took my car in for a tune-up and they discovered the brakes were shot and when they removed the brakes, the axles crumbled and… I always tell my friends that the two great tragedies in most adult lives is having car problems and not having enough money to fix them.
So I just need some time to catch my breath, figure out how to pay all the bills that keep coming in on a daily basis and get back up to speed at my regular job with all the work that piled up while I was out trying to recuperate as well as all the work that continues to come my way each day. Isn’t it odd that no matter how much work you do, there is at least that much or more still to do?
So in this whirlwind something needed to be eliminated from my daily menu of activities and Jim Hill has been gracious enough to allow me to exit from writing for the website so that I can direct my efforts to some other important matters. Many thanks to all the kind and generous comments from those who read and enjoyed my columns but now it is time to say that until we meet again, may your lives be filled with love, laughter and a sense of wonder.