For HS/College Students Interested in Photography

A dear friend and fabulous photographer, Jim Cox, died in a helicopter crash last year in Phoenix. His family and friends have started a foundation to encourage young photographers. The deadline is fast approaching (Oct. 15) for anyone who'd like to apply. Scholarships and cameras are available.

http://www.jamesalancoxfoundation.org/application.php

Arizona's Family-KTVK, 3TV Phoenix

There are a lot of great people who haved worked at KTVK over the years and this past week, I had the good fortune to see many of them. The occasion was tragic-- we were attending the memorial service of Jim Cox and Scott Bowerbank, the photographer and pilot who died when 3TV's helicopter crashed. As we gathered to remember Jim and Scott, those of us who have moved on from KTVK also remembered our time there.

I think all of us who worked for KTVK feel blessed to have done so, especially in the era when the Lewis family owned the station. It was one of the last of the family owned stations. When you needed something, you didn't send it up the corporate ladder to get it approved, you just went to Del and Jewell's office and asked. If you ran into Del in the elevator, he might tell you about his Cadillac that could get clear to Los Angeles without re-filling. And from time to time on the intercom, you'd hear an all building page-- crates of grapes from the Lewis farm were in shipping. There was also the occasional barbeque in the back lot.

A lot of us either learned our craft or honed it at KTVK. One of our bosses said he liked to hire good people and let them do their thing. A lot of corporate wonks SAY that, but few actually do it. Phrases like, "if you go too far, we'll pull you back," were not uncommon.

In television, perhaps more than any other business, people move. A lot of us have moved on since the Lewis years. Some went to bigger markers, some were rational and left the business. But so many came back for the memorial service. I could barely walk a few feet without running into someone. Others wished they could have made it. It's testimony not just to the two fine men who died last week, but to the family that Del and Jewell Lewis built. I think a lot of us realized it was special when we worked there. I just didn't realize how special it was till I left.

Jim Cox, Photographer 1970-2007

People wonder why I read obituaries and it's because I want to get a sense of the people who died. I figure I didn't know them while they were alive so the least I can do is read about them now that they're gone on.

So I write this knowing that no matter what I say, you'll never get a full sense of who Jim Cox was unless you met him. Many of you might know him now as one of the people who died when two television news helicopters crashed into each other in Phoenix. But of course he was much more than the tragic end he met.

It is not enough to say that he was a brilliant photographer. He was. He was scary good. You could tell a Jim Cox liveshot just by looking at it-- the reporter would be lit up like a Christmas tree. It was almost as if they were chroma-keyed. And I'm not exaggerating to say that there was never a time when I went out with him on a shoot that I didn't come back with something on the tape that was extraordinary-- a special shot, a way of looking at things, something suprising.

But he also had the biggest heart. He was so kind. When he fell in love, he fell hard and fast. He jumped right in, and I remember urging him not to. I said, Jim, slow down a bit. No dice. He told me- that's who I am. He was all in.

With his life or his work, he put his whole heart into things. He was passionate about news and stories. If you work in news, there's a phrase for it-- to be blunt-- he was balls to the wall. If it was happening, he was on it and there was no other person you'd want with you in a breaking news situation.

He was handy. He had bought an adorable bungalow in an historic district in Phoenix and re-did the house all himself. Then, if that weren't enough, he built an addition. He was going to sell the house. Jim was going to learn how to fly helicopters.

It's fair to say he died doing what he loved. But he has left us, in shock, grasping for words, trying to piece together our memories, and wishing we had had more time with him.