Remembering Jamesie

Today we celebrated the life of a dear friend, James Carter. A moving memorial service was held in his honor this afternoon at the Globe-News Center. Friends and colleagues gathered to celebrate his life. He will be dearly missed.

Jim Elliott, friend and colleague wrote the following thoughts for Jamesie's obituary.

Mr. Carter was born May 30, 1958, in Pampa, where he was a 1976 graduate of Pampa High School. James attended West Texas State University in Canyon. He had been a resident of Amarillo since 1976. He was a former member of First United Methodist Church in Pampa.

He worked for years for Tumbleweed Sound and Lighting in Amarillo as a technician. He worked many productions across the Panhandle. James also did sound and lighting work for the Amarillo and Lubbock civic centers and the United Spirit Arena at Texas Tech. In addition, he worked for Midnight Rodeo in Amarillo and Lubbock.

This week we lost an icon of the arts scene, and most did not know it. James Carter, affectionately known by his friends and co-workers as Jamesie, left the stages of Amarillo a bit darker Wednesday with his passing. You may not have known James, but I can guarantee you have seen his work if you ever went to Country Squire or Frenchy McCormack dinner theaters, any performance of Lone Star Ballet, Amarillo Opera, the Paramount Terrace Christian Church annual Christmas pageant at the Amarillo Civic Center, Summer Youth Musicals, almost any concert or show at the Tri-State Fairgrounds or even a hockey game at Cal Farley Coliseum. He loved making art.

James worked quietly behind the scenes for every arts entity, sports team and entertainment venue in Amarillo. His name was the first on everyone's list of folks to work with their production. So, what did James Carter do? He was arguably the best stagehand to ever have worked in Amarillo. Entertainment was his life. And he did everything behind the scenes.

With James on your production, you could be assured that he would arrive seven minutes late to the call, but then would work tirelessly, rarely at a fast pace, but always steady. James was someone whom everyone would be proud to have as an employee. He would look at the total picture of the tasks at hand and begin methodically eliminating them one-by-one. It was not necessary to give James a "to-do" list, he knew what needed to be done and did it, then did some more. He often would present, not a list of to-do's, but of things he had already done. James exhibited an eye for detail and always put the audience first. With James on the crew, you could be assured at least his part would be flawless.

There are not many people who can claim they have no enemies. I have never met anyone who did not like Jamesie. He worked with so many country and rock acts that toured through Amarillo, he was well-known by those folks, too. Tours returning to Amarillo would often ask if Jamesie (yes, they called him that, too) was working their show. He was said to be the best monitor mix guy in the Southwest. He documented the setup of every band he ever worked with, and could tell them exactly how it was done on their previous visit.

James loved his friends and family. He loved purple. He loved Pink Floyd. He loved being the best at anything he did. He loved to laugh. He loved to do unique things like flushing cotton candy down toilets and dropping bowling balls from the roof of the Civic Center. He loved life. He remembered birthdays. He was loved in return.

The show will go on, but it won't quite be the same. We miss you Jamesie.