Photo: Jesper Haynes
Every Sunday evening, for over 40 years until the pandemic, you have been invited to dinner at Jim Haynes' home in Paris. Anyone was welcome for the informal dinner and conversation -- all you had to do was phone or email, and Haynes would add your name to the list. Diverse nationalities, immigrants, travelers, students all milled around the open-plan space. On Jan. 6, 2021, Jim Haynes passed away in his sleep at the age of 87. A Herald obituary described him as "the unofficial agent for the beat generation in Scotland." Born in Louisiana in 1933, he lived in Venezuela as a teen, established the first paperback bookshop and co-founded Traverse Theater in Edinburgh, Scotland, founded an Arts Lab in London, where he mixed with the likes of David Bowie, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, ran a magazine in Amsterdam, and became a university lecturer in Paris, where he settled in 1969. "While a lot of highly regarded people tend to retreat into their own circles after finding success, Jim never stopped reaching out to new people," wrote Vicky Baker for BBC News. Like an established tree holding soil together with his roots, he greeted many as old friends, nurturing many friendships. Over the decades, an estimated 150,000 people have flowed into his home for a nourishing meal and company. Amid an outpouring of tributes for Jim's colorful life, his son, Jesper, said, "His goal from early on was to introduce the whole world to each other. He almost succeeded."
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