JANUARY 30, 2003

From the moment that Jim purchased Murphy's Bleachers, formerly known as Ray’s Bleachers, in 1980, it became the center point for so much activity in the neighborhood - including serving as the relaxation point of choice for dozens of Chicago Cubs down through the years (Mark Grace, Rick Sutcliffe, Keith Moreland, Jody Davis, and Randy Myers to name just a few), too many journalists, police and firemen to count, a "who's who" of local politicians, the home to many political and community public events, hundreds of charity and political fundraisers, private good-byes (the family of NBC-5’s Darrian Chapman held Darrian’s memorial service at Murphy's), the setting for hundreds of community meetings dating back to the battle over night games at Wrigley Field in the 1980s, the occasional wedding proposal, and just every-day rollicking good fun. Jim slowly expanded and re-invested in Murphy's, creating what is now widely recognized as the best sports bar in America. And through it all, Jim sat center stage, serving as maestro of all whirling activity going on around him.

Jim was recognized by his community as a true leader, and was elected by his neighbors to the position of president of the East Lake View Neighbors community organization, the area surrounding Wrigley Field. Jim also served as president of the Wrigleyville Rooftop Association. Perhaps there is no better example of Jim's total commitment to community than his behind the scenes efforts in the on-going Wrigley Field expansion saga. It is in this context that I came to know and deeply respect Jim. There are those who have questioned Jim's motives in the battle over Wrigley Field expansion. The Tribune Co. and the occasional community leader looked at Jim skeptically. In fact, on the last evening of Jim's life, I had an engaging but frustrating discussion with a local community leader about Jim. This person doubted Jim's sincerity, talked of a neighborhood take-over by "rooftop bandits". But the more I spoke with this person, the more obvious it became - this person had never taken the time to get to know Jim, and was reacting to misinformation (a not-uncommon experience). As we talked, and I detailed some of Jim's efforts to put the community's agenda front and center in the debate, some of the skepticism faded. Too bad I will not be able to take the next step and introduce this person to Jim.

For it was so obvious to us who worked closely with him over the past 19 months that community was what mattered most to Jim. Sure, he was a businessman, and his beloved rooftop business was under assault. But the fact that few outside Jim's inner circle ever knew was that Jim knew from the beginning that no matter the expansion plan, no matter the design, no matter the number of seats added through expansion (700, 1100, 1400,or 2100+), because of the location of his building in deep right-center field, his rooftop business was going to be wiped out.

And yet he was not completely opposed to Wrigley Field expansion. He thought that the Tribune Co. had a right to a reasonable, limited expansion - as long as the Tribune Co. addressed community concerns first, including the rights of the rooftop clubs that had accumulated over 85 plus years. It was community concerns that motivated Jim to jump into the dispute with both feet, and drove him to devote hundreds of hours to work for a community-first driven compromise.

He fought hard to give the community a seat at the table at every private rooftop/Tribune Co. negotiating session. It was Jim who raised the funds that paid for the full-page open letter to Mayor Daley from the Lake View Citizens Council and several of its member organizations that ran in the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune last February at a time when the Tribune Co.'s agenda was being rushed through the city's Department of Planning and Development. It was Jim who raised the funds, hired and supervised dozens of field workers, developed the strategy, and drafted the referendum language that resulted in the 80-20 vote last March in favor of putting community interests first before expansion. The full-page ads and the vote on the referendum were the turning point in the dispute - Mayor Daley was able to see clearly that the community had been shut out of the decision making process. It is no exaggeration to say that but for Jim's tireless efforts, community protections would have been largely ignored in the Wrigley Field expansion saga.

And Jim genuinely cared about people. He had a heart as big as Mt. Everest. The true story of his private largess has never been told. It was not uncommon for Jim to contact a local school and tell them that he had held a fundraiser for their benefit, when in fact the money was coming from him. He was old school, very private. He simply believed that helping others was not to be lauded in a press release; it was just the right thing to do. And he helped hundreds of young people who came through Murphy's Bleachers - with a little side money for tuition, a trip to his beloved Ireland as a reward for job performance, a place to live and monthly living expenses for people that were a little down on their luck...the list is simply too long to recount here.

As a person, he was greatly misunderstood. Jim could be gruff and seemingly irascible. But he really was a big teddy bear. He could be intimidating, but when you got to know him...oh, what a giant of a man. The times that I shared with him I will treasure the rest of my life. Simply put, Jim was hysterical. His love for life was infectious. And his zest for life was only transcended by his loyalty to his family, friends and employees. Jim only asked one thing from people - honesty. In a day when lawyers are called in to memorialize even the smallest of business transactions with reams of paper, Jim was a handshake guy. His word was truly his bond. A promise from Jim Murphy was as good as gold.

The greatest love of Jim's life was his best friend, his wife Beth, and his two children, Brian and James. Jim often told me that Beth was God's gift to him. And he would get emotional discussing his two boys. Those of us who were privileged to call him "friend" will miss him terribly. His loss is incalculable. But Jim would not want us to shrink away in despair. I can hear him now: "let's prepare for the landmark hearings...we have to make sure that the community is not steamrolled..." and on it would go. If you have not met Jim, stop by Murphy's Bleachers, take a look around, soak in the atmosphere, and raise a glass to a true one-of-a-kind tour de force, a man who did so much for so many, a man who is irreplaceable. There will never be another Jim Murphy.