Obituaries

James Clemons

Photo of James Clemons
James H. "Jim" Clemons, a remarkable person, devoted husband, father and grandfather, an award-winning advertising and public relations executive, writer, artist, adventurer, and one of the best story tellers in the South, has died. Jim passed away December 15 at his home in Lakewood in North Little Rock following a lengthy and valiant effort to survive cancer. He was 64. He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and his two sons, Jack (Lauren) Clark and Jones Clemons, and his three grandchildren, Corbinn Garrett, Grace Clark and Henry Clark. His very wide circle of friends in business, politics, the environmental movement, sports, art, and music join his family in mourning his death. He was born in Little Rock on February 1, 1949, the son of Audra Bishop and stepfather Buford Bishop and father Hubert Clemons. He graduated from Sylvan Hills High School and attended the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where he majored in advertising. Jim, who was universally known by his many friends as "Jungle", a nick name given to him by his college fraternity brothers at Kappa Sigma because of his penchant for wearing British pith helmets while partying and fishing, was a well known Central Arkansas bon vivant. But he was much more, as well. In addition to being a successful advertising executive, Jim was an excellent music critic and an expert on stereophonic equipment. He wrote many product reviews for prominent music, phonographic and stereo and technical publications. He was an artist too, and his paintings can be found today in the kitchens and hallways of his friends. Speaking of Jim's creative talents, his wife Betsy, an artist and teacher, recently told friends that "Jungle was one of the most creative persons I've known. And not just regular creative. He was out-there creative. His professional work could be stunning in originality." He was a life-long political liberal and environmentalist, issues that came to him early while a columnist for the UALR student newspaper "The Trojan". He wrote a column called "Voice of the Jungle" of which he was particularly proud and he was an early advocate for Arkansas environmental activism. He was a noted pain-in-the-neck to political leaders in North Little Rock and Izard County who were brave enough to discount his positions on issues that ranged from green space availability, electric utility easements, oil and gas fracking, and other anti-pollution issues. The family had a second home on Piney Creek near Calico Rock, which Jim adored and brought him much happiness. He loved to drive his tractor, work the land, maintain the property, and then entertain friends until the wee hours of the morning. He worked tirelessly to protect the forestland, waterways and pristine granite bluffs in North Arkansas. He loved fishing with his pals and was one of the founders of the "Brotherhood of the Hook". He was an expert on rum distillation and once judged an international rum distilling contest. In the past few years, he began writing music, of course in his atypical style, using paper plates and writing lyrics in a circular pattern. Several of his songs recently were recorded by Memphis musician Mark Wiklund in a CD entitled "Homeless". Jim loved Mexico and the Mexican people. For many years he would take annual trips to Zihuatanejo with his friend Jim Allen of San Francisco to catch billfish in the Pacific Ocean and for adventuring. He later bought a beach house at Playa Sesteo in Nayarit, north of Puerto Vallarta, where he relished drinking Pacificos and grilling fish with his son Jack, friends and neighbors while regaling them with stories of his unique life. Many, but not all of the stories were actually true. Jim started his advertising career in Little Rock working with Steve Stephens, creating work for numerous central Arkansas financial institutions. In 1977 Jim teamed with Larry Stone as part of a writer/art director team that created the nationally awarding winning 100th anniversary advertising campaign for Worthen Bank & Trust Co. This campaign set a new standard for creative quality for the Arkansas advertising industry. To quote Larry Stone: "Jim taught me that the conventional wisdom is not always wise". In 1980 Jim became a partner at Frazer Irby Snyder Advertising for a 15 year run with art director Pat Snyder to create award-winning advertising for many Arkansas clients. Among his clients were Magic Mart, Andy's, Food 4 Less, Stinger Sam Auto Parts, Himalayan Industries, Ben Pearson, Winrock Farms, Stanley Jewelers, Camelot Inn, Mister Twister, National Bank of Arkansas, Klipsch Loudspeakers, Jason International, and Steco. Jim was notorious for coming to work on the day before a major presentation to announce that the current concept that was ready to pitch was not good enough. He would then throw out a new and always far better idea. He always did his best work under extreme pressure and was forever in search of that magic hook that would motivate the consumer to act. When it came to advertising, Jim was always the smartest person at the table and the original of "Mad Men" before there was such a thing. In addition to his lengthy career in advertising, Jim also was a highly respected public relations consultant, particularly in the transportation industry, where he was well known among the trade press for his deep knowledge of the industry and his ability to supply an editor with a timely story on deadline. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he was instrumental in taking the term "logistics" from its almost exclusive usage among academics and business strategic planners and popularizing it with the national news media. Among his many long-time national clients in the field were Consolidated Freightways, Inc., Emery Worldwide Airlines, CNF Transportation Inc., and Menlo Logistics. He also consulted for several Arkansas based trucking industry firms such as Road Systems Inc. in Searcy. In addition he had PR clients in the banking and home building industries in Arkansas and Texas. Jim was a large man who lived large. He loved his family, loved his friends and loved his work. Ask him at any time how things were going and his reply would always be the same: "Todo Bien", Spanish for Everything is Good. And it was. A casual celebration of Jim's life will be December 19 from 4-7 p.m. at Jungle and Betsy's home. Arrangements by North Little Rock Funeral Home. Online obituary at www.SmithFamilyCares.com.

Published December 18, 2013

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