Joseph Michael James

Joseph Michael James, known to most as Michael or JMJ, was born in Hutchinson, Kansas on August 5th, 1946. He was the oldest of Glendon and Alice Rose James' three children. Michael and his brother John Morgan are survived by their sister, Mindy Hawkins, and her husband Lad of Jacksonville, Florida. The James family were Appalachian. According to Alice's family tree research, the infamous Jesse James was a distant cousin. Michael liked to say he "felt funny" when he passed a bank.

Many considered Michael a true Renaissance man: he was an artist, inventor, self-taught electronics engineer, and entrepreneur. His art included, among other things, painted plexi-glass, moldable plastics, and ultimately, animated fractal computer graphics. His graphic pieces were shown in Boston, and were part of an exhibit on New Media at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Michael was involved in the development of the New Media area at SFMOMA for several years.

Professionally, Michael founded Cyborg, a data acquisition company, in Brighton MA., in the mid-1970s. There he gained patents in biofeedback instruments, and went on to develop the BioLab, a multi-process, computerized biofeedback deck. The BioLab became known for its usefulness in retraining muscles for patients of Veterans' hospitals. In 1986, Michael moved from data acquisition to graphics and moved to California where he worked for Wyse Technology and Radius. He then founded, Portrait Displays, Inc., a monitor graphics firm in Pleasanton, CA. Portrait initially produced the Pivot monitor, and is currently creating graphics and calibration software for screens small and large.

In early 2015 Michael had his right arm and shoulder amputated. In his usual manner, he embraced the use of his fancy prosthesis and was able to continue riding his bicycle, which was a passion of his. Michael also retired in 2015 to savor his unusual home - an industrial loft in the Clocktower Building in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco. There, along with his wife, Aida Berkovitz, herself a gifted knitter and textile artist, he enjoyed movie and dinner parties with their friends and family, and cycling all around his beloved City of San Francisco.

Michael had two children and a step-daughter, Aida's daughter Stesha Walsh, who lives and works in San Francisco. His son, Colin, is owner of RaroShack, a computer sales and electronics repair business in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. Colin and his wife Yoshi have a daughter, Isabel, who loved to Skype chat with her grandfather. Michael's daughter, Allie, lives in Venice, CA, with her husband Geoff Kaiser, and is Director of Digital Development at Reese Witherspoon's production company Hello Sunshine.

Michael loved and was so very proud of his children, grandchild, sister and wife Aida. He will be deeply missed by them, his extended family, and many friends and coworkers. He was truly one of a kind and leaves many accomplishments and a great loss in his passing.