James Peter Britton will be remembered as a man who was always young in defiance of his years, writes his daughter Natalie.Courtesy of family
James Peter Britton: Father. Grampa. Music lover. Contrarian. Born Sept. 7, 1941, in Toronto; died June 16, 2025, in Montreal, of cancer; aged 83.
James (Jim) Britton will be remembered as a man who was always young in defiance of his years, who spoke incomprehensibly about the philosophy of science to anyone who would listen, and who danced with his eyes closed.
He was born in Toronto, at a time of Second World War rations, ice boxes and milk delivered by horse-drawn wagon. Money was scarce, but there was a skating rink in the backyard every winter. Jim received a scholarship to St. Michael’s College for high school – it was here that he often recalled having first engaged with the questions that he continued to ponder for the rest of his life.
He spent the 1960s patronizing the Bohemian Embassy coffeehouse in Toronto while studying math, physics and chemistry at University of Toronto, delighting most in the advanced mathematics courses that he flunked. It was here that he first encountered the greats of blues and jazz who passed through Toronto’s music scene, attending intimate concerts with his brother Paul to see the likes of Dizzy Gillespie. An oft-recounted episode had him hosting legendary blues musician Reverend Gary Davis to sleep at his apartment upon discovering that the latter had not secured lodgings.
Somewhere in that time he also attended the seminary to study Catholic theology. Quickly realizing that a life in the priesthood wasn’t his destiny, he negotiated a weekly “pass” from the head priest to blow off steam at a local bar, before leaving the seminary to return to more profane pursuits.
In 1968, the promise of excitement drove Jim to leave Toronto and move to Montreal – a city with which he had a love affair for the rest of his life. The decades that followed saw him roving the city with his closest friend, Aylmer Gribble. Lunches were long and always soaked in wine, dinners too, with conversation that was a little too abstract, a little too loud but always enthusiastic.
There were years spent skydiving, downhill skiing in a three-piece powder blue corduroy suit and buying his croissants at the same bakery as politician René Lévesque. He had a brief stint teaching in Nigeria and discovered the music of African pop star King Sunny Adé. He had great admiration for the minds of younger generations and delighted in the not-yet-conditioned minds of children. Throughout, he read more books than anyone could possibly keep up with. He married Soraya Hakimi in 1981, and though they quickly divorced, in their unconventional way, they raised their daughter Natalie (their “koochooloo”).
Many friends and locals know his most recent incarnation as the strange but endearing elderly man who would dance to the drum beat at the bohemian tam-tams every Sunday on Mont-Royal, eventually moving on to the Piknic Electronik festival as he neared his 80s, to the embarrassment and entertainment of his daughter.
Some recall the time he remained suspended from the side of a building as part of an art installation. Others will remember his dedication to his grandchildren whom he picked up from school and patiently helped with their homework – chocolate milk in hand.
He lived a full life and faced the end with serenity. Jim left this world quietly at his daughter’s home in the early morning, with his favourite classical music station playing and birds chirping outside. He was surrounded by family.
On one of his last lucid days, he asked to hear Baby Driver by Simon and Garfunkel. He wanted us to listen to the words of an announcer at the end of the song, which he wanted for his epitaph: “And here is the World Champion … just completing his run!”
He is so very missed.
Natalie Britton is James Britton’s daughter.
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