James Harvey Cobb's Obituary
Beloved son and dear friend.
Born in Tacoma, Washington on February 18, 1953, Jim quietly ended his five-year challenge with lymphoma on July 8, 2014 at his home in Olympia, Washington with his mother, Kathy Cobb, at his bedside. When asked how he was doing, he always gave a smile and a cheerful “fine.” He so deeply appreciated life and the people around him that he could overlook his own troubles to help others bear theirs.
Jim was a master storyteller and author. His big break came with his Amanda Garrett series, the futuristic navy technothrillers Choosers of the Slain (Putnam, 1996), Sea Strike, Sea Fighter, and Target Lock. West on 66 (St. Martin’s Press, 1997) featured adventures along the iconic Route 66 and launched his Kevin Pulaski series. Set in the 1950’s, the Pulaski series included three novels and several short stories published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. One of the short stories, “Framed” was voted a Readers’ Top Ten favorite for 2006. His science fiction novel Cibola was published by Five Star in 2004. His short stories appear in many anthologies and magazines, including First to Fight I & II, The Fantastic Civil War, and Phantasm magazine. More recently, he published The Arctic Event (Grand Central, 2007) a novel in Robert Ludlum’s Covert One thriller series. Jim not only wrote his own books, but generously shared his passion for a good story. He spent hundreds of hours encouraging and mentoring aspiring writers, appearing on panels at conventions, and working with his critique group.
He grew up in Tacoma, graduating from Lincoln High in 1972 and the University of Puget Sound in 1976, with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and English. As a young boy, he loved spending time on his uncle’s ranch in Eastern Washington. Before making it big as a writer, his career spanned such diverse occupations as ranch hand, truck dispatcher, disk jockey, and book store and theater manager. He spent most of his life in Tacoma, moving to the rural Tenino area in 2008.
Jim was a man of diverse enthusiasms, including western and military history, classic cars, ghost stories, firearms, science fiction, and UFOs. He maintained an enormous book collection. He belonged to the Navy League and the U.S. Naval Institute. Jim was commissioned a “Kentucky Colonel” by Governor Paul Patton in recognition of his achievements. He loved to travel the backroads in his 1960 Thunderbird “Lisette”, attending car shows, researching his books, telling stories round the campfire, and poking around the wilderness country of our own west, as well as visiting countries from Morocco to China.
He is survived by his mother, Kathryne, his aunt, Ilene Anderson Cobb of Olympia, and his aunt Marie Cobb of Jacksonville, FL; his cousins Kent (Merlene) Cobb, Mt. View, HI, Kevin (Nancy) Cobb and Kirk (Peggy) Cobb, Olympia. Also cousins Kurtis Cobb of Phoenix, AZ, Elisabeth and Cayla Michaels of Jacksonville, FL, Mallory (Loy) Dockery, Bremerton, WA and the many friends who were lucky enough to have him in their lives. Especially his incredible friends Mark and Star, Henry and Kathy, Jeff and Kristi, R.J., Christi and Kalvin, who were steadfast in their support to Jim and his mother. May they be blessed.
Jim was sustained by the care and compassion of Dr. Daniel Moore and Dr. Natalie Xu of Multicare Regional Cancer Center; the 6th Floor J Wing nurses and the 4th Floor Cancer Clinic staff, especially Chris White, Dena and Roland .
If desired, memorials may be sent to Multicare Tree House Foundation, PO Box 5299, Tacoma, 98415.
Services will be held Saturday, June 12th at 2:30 P.M. in the Garden Chapel at Mountain View Funeral Home, 4100 Steilacoom Blvd SW Lakewood, WA 98499. Friends and family are encouraged to drive their classic cars to the service in honor of Jim.
Interment will be at Rosehill Cemetery, Idaho Falls, Idaho.
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