The City Hall rotunda was packed last night for the Jim Rivaldo memorial. I knew him as a political guy, a campaign consultant and activist with a strange and wonderful sense of humor and a big heart. But many of the people who spoke, including Judge Ellen Chaitin, her husband, defense lawyer V. Roy Lefcourt, and their two children, talked about Jim as a part of the family, an honorary uncle who loved kids and acted like a kid himself, to the very end. There were, safe to say, plenty of tears — and plenty of smiles and laughs as the speakers reminded us of how fun, and funny, he was. Which would have made Jim Rivaldo very happy.
Thanks to Luke Thomas for the photo.