his stepson Paul said: “He was pretty much out of action in his last few weeks, whilst mentally strong his body was another matter. I know he loved his blogging and his contributions to the council and residents association, heβll be sorely missed.”
For interest I have copied his not uncharacteristic blogger’s biog, below. RIP, Jim.
dorsetjimbo / Jim Biggin / since 2008
Born 1942 (you can do the sums). Introduced to The Telegraph cryptic
crossword by my rather Edwardian aunt when I was 12 and she caught me
kissing my cousin (those were the days). Moved on to The Times when I
was 15 and have been doing it ever since. I’ve never been
particularly fast (I can’t read and write at the same time apart from
not having the brain power) and puzzles normally take me from 20 to
50 minutes. My all-time favourite puzzles were those set by Ximenes
in the Sunday Observer and I’ve still got my tie somewhere. I’m
retired now after spending most of my working life applying IT to
insurance and finance. I wrote my first computer based actuarial
valuation in 1964 using an ICL1301, which probably accounts for my
sense of humour. For 18 years my wife Maureen and I were foster
carers looking after teenagers until we retired from that in 2006,
during which that same humour kept me sane. I now devote my time to
local community affairs, golf and the Times crossword, of course.
I always enjoyed his no-nonsense blogs and comments.
My favourite was an April 1 blog a few years back where he completely sold me on some spurious explanation – I can’t remember the detail – until I remembered the date. Other comments suggested that I was not the only one taken in.
We will miss you Jimbo.
RIP.
Here is the obituary from the Bournemouth paper:
https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/19003695.christchurch-stalwart-jim-biggin-dies-battle-cancer/
Thanks, Jim. Rest in peace.
RIP Jimbo
https://times-xwd-times.livejournal.com/1089580.html
Edited at 2021-02-20 11:48 am (UTC)
I invariably enjoyed reading Dorset Jimboβs amusing and excoriating comments. You always knew he would be highly entertaining and display his razor sharp wit in the deconstruction of the setterβs offering. He will be sorely missed.
Thank you so much for all your memorable contributions.
God bless! Jovan.
Jim was one of the people whose comments I always looked forward most to read when browsing through these blogs. Despite the modest self-description in the blog above, he was plainly a top solver.
He somehow acquired a fearsome reputation for hs comments, but they were always authoritative and fair.
RR
RIP Jimbo.
He was already blogging here when I found the site and I loved his style.
One of the most dificult things I’ve done in my life is to teach an introductory programming course while I was doing my PhD in computer science, for people who were starting a masters course and had come to learn how to program before they got thrown in at the deep end. I couldn’t remember what was difficult or see that everything wasn’t obvious. Jim was so experienced that sometimes he forgot what was difficult. He will be missed.
I donβt remember this.
I wouldnβt have dared to try to ban crossword blogs.
Not if I ever planned to visit Dorset
RR
Jez Woolfrey.
My deepest condolences to his family and close friends.
I will miss his non-nonsense comments, which always seemed to be right on the button and such a valued contribution.
Bob K
Deepest sympathy to his wife – you and Jim did great work – and to his family.