Today marks the one year anniversary of the passing of James Kim. For those of you who
don’t know or remember James Kim, he was a Senior Editor at CNET.com in San Francisco. James and his family became the focus of media attention when they disappeared after Thanksgiving after visiting family in Seattle. The Kim family planned to drive back to return to San Francisco, with a planned vacation in Oregon along the way.
Unfortunately, due to poor weather, the rural nature of Oregon, and some wrong turns, the Kim family wound up being lost and stranded in the car. James eventually went on foot in search of help for his family, but without luck, and was found a year ago today, having walked about 16 miles in search of help, but succombing to hypothermia. There was some controversey regarding the search & rescue operation due to responsiveness of local and state authorities, and their lack of knowledge on tracking cell phone signals.
His friends and colleagues remember James in a video tribute here on Crave: The Gadget Blog. CNET.com has also posted an article today on “Lessons learned from Kim tragedy”
What I think captured the intense media scrutiny in the San Francisco Bay Area and the nation-at-large was that many could identify James Kim’s love for his family and his quest to save his wife and two young daughters. The fact that James was Korean-American or that he was married to an obviously (from photos) white woman never really came to be a big part of the reporting of the story. The James Kim story was a very human story that anyone who has ever loved someone could identify with. May James Kim rest in peace our thoughts be with his family this holiday season.
