and another

That last item prompted me to check into a rumor I’d heard from a classmate in New York about another St. John’s death. And it turned out to be true as well.

This guy’s name was JIM DUGAN, and he died in New Orleans in March when a dock he was sitting on collapsed and pinned him underwater. It was apparently too dangerous for anyone to recover the body, though it was visible in 50 feet of water, and it didn’t surface for two months. Terrible story.

Jim was 42, though he started college late and was three years behind me. But he played trumpet and I played sax in the same rock band for awhile during my senior year, so I did have some personal contact with him. (Another sax player in that band was current Annapolis mayor JOSH COHEN, who joined us despite being a young high schooler at the time.)

Dugan was a colorful character. I feel bad for his family and friends. He looks pretty much the same in that photo as I remember him, though he had long and curly hair as an undergrad.