Jim Walsh

I first met John Walsh as Deval Patrick explored the possibility of running for governor. In January of 2006, I contacted his campaign and invited Deval to my home to meet some local Democrats. He came. He saw. He conquered.

The nomination fight that year was intense. Primaries are never fun. But, on the morning of the vote at the state Democratic Convention that year, a bunch of us were standing with John in the hallway outside the grand hall when another candidate with his supporters came down the same hall. John looked up, caught the eye of the other candidate, smiled broadly, pointed his finger, and said “Tomorrow we’re on the same side!”

A lot has changed in politics over the last 16 years, much of it not for the good. But John Walsh never changed. While he was always up for the competition, he never compromised his essential good nature as it unfolded.

As chairman of the state Dems, John had a small office in Boston. He was well-organized, hardworking, unpretentious, friendly, and warm. He graced our home in Nahant for dinner. His sense of humor and quiet intelligence was a joy to be near.

Years later, after he became Sen. Ed Markey’s chief of staff, I had occasion to ask him for a favor. I knew a young man, a college senior living in D.C., who wished to work in the political sphere. He was a special guy. Upon graduating from high school in Florida, he looked around and decided, reasonably, that Florida was not the place for him. He was raised by his father, a Mexican-American landscaper, in a one-parent household. While he was very close to his father, he decided to strike out on his own. Purely by chance, he found a job working for room and board in Nahant and also for a local landscaper. But, he also wanted to go to college. And, just across the Causeway was North Shore Community College. He continued to work and he enrolled.

He lived down the street from me and worked for the fellow who cuts our lawn. I got to know him. His intelligence was as bright as his smile and his determination was filled with optimism. He’d come to Massachusetts to create a new life for himself, and he was succeeding.

After two years at North Shore he applied for and received a scholarship to George Washington University. He was ecstatic and so were the many friends that he’d made at North Shore and in Nahant. When he expressed his desire to work in government, I contacted John about the possibility of his working as an intern in Sen. Markey’s office. I told John he was precisely the kind of person who should be given a chance. And he was. Both men saw the best in the other and, although it might seem that Princeton grad John Walsh might not have had a lot in common with a second-generation Mexican immigrant, in fact, they did. Nobody handed anything to either of them.

Hearing of John Walsh’s death brought tears to my eyes, quickly followed by the warmth of memory. At a political gathering in Swampscott many years ago, I walked up to John, who happened to be standing with state Rep. Steve Walsh. “Well,” I said, “You can’t have too many Walshes.”

John cocked his head, took a quick look from side to side and said “Actually… you can.”

Then, responding to my astonished look, a broad smile filling his face, he said “But we’re not there yet.”

A month or so ago, I had heard that John was ill but I knew no more than that. I sent an email to him expressing my concern. His response was a simple “Thank you.” At the bottom of his personal email is a quote from Amanda Gorman. 

“For there is always light, if only we are brave enough to see it — if only we are brave enough to be it.”

My last words to John Walsh were “Your light casts no shadows… only light.”

I feel so fortunate to have been able to say that to him.

Jim Walsh lives in Nahant.