James Louis Anderson left this planet on Sunday, June 21st, in search of a better place to go fishing and hunting. Jim passed away after a long battle with lung cancer.

Born on July 11, 1954, in Port Angeles, I spent my entire life on the Olympic Peninsula. I was born at the right time and place to enjoy all of the outdoor living the Peninsula had to offer. It was a sportsman paradise when I was young. The only thing left now are the memories of how bountiful this land was in the past.

My dad taught me how to fish, hunt and gather seafood at an early age. We didn't have much money when I was growing up, but we ate like rich people. Gathering wild food from the land is how we and other locals survived living on the Peninsula.

I hooked my first steelhead when I was 6 years old. I was never the same after that. Everybody said I had a fishing problem. It only got worse when I got my driver's license. I bought my first salmon mooching boat in 1976 and self-taught myself how to mooch for King Salmon. I could be seen fly fishing the upper Elwha system in the evenings, fishing the rivers for winter run or summer run steelhead, casting for salmon or searun cutthroat along the beaches on the strait, jigging for Kokanee in Lake Sutherland or netting smelt at Twin Rivers. I tried fishing everywhere and for anything. I just ran out of time.

It makes me sad leaving my wife, Vicki, my family, my friends and my little nap partner, my dog Bella.

One place I will miss above all the places I've been to on the Peninsula is Freshwater Bay and King Salmon fishing. It is one of the rare warm and calm mornings. The sun is just beginning to peek above the water and the first rays of sunlight shine off the cliffs, birds and salmon are feeding on baitfish on the edge of the kelp beds. It is one of those days where you hook a King Salmon with each pass and you don't want to stop. Just one more pass before you are called home.

School history:

PAHS Class of 1972

Peninsula College: 1974 majored in Fisheries Technology

1997-1999 AAS degree in Criminal Justice

Work History: 1974-1976 Eclipse Timber Co Setting chokers and working with explosives on the road building crew.

1976-1997 ITT Rayonier Pulp Mill 21 years, 20 years in the finishing room and one year as an oiler. I was given the nickname "Rooster Dink" by my fellow "mill rat friends" which has stayed with me up to my last days.

1999-2013 Clallam Bay Correction Center, Corrections Officer for 13 years. I wanted to thank all of my coworkers for watching my back and keeping me safe inside the walls and giving me the nickname "Crazy Jim."

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, July 11th, Jim's 66th birthday at Ediz Hook between 1PM-3PM. Please bring a flower to release into the water as a remembrance of Jim.

Drennan & Ford Funeral Home in Port Angeles is entrusted with his arrangements. Please sign the online guestbook for his family at www.drennanford.com .