“More bubbly please,” were some of James' last words just over 11 years ago. This year, to commemorate the anniversary on a cloudy spring morning just over a dozen people, including James life partner Joel Singer, gathered with poetry and champagne to bury the remainder of James ashes next to his Port Townsend graveside monument.

Poetry, champagne, costume, and song were the order of the day. People shared stories of sparkling moments they had had with James, what they loved about him— such as how his exuberance seem to make everything else come alive. Poems were read. And others spoke of how James was still affecting them positively even a decade after his death.

One young woman shared how she had never met James but had discovered his poetry in college. His words had been so pivotal to her that many years later, when she discovered his gravesite in Port Townsend, she was so touched she had made it a regular stopping point on her daily jogs. She told us how often she stood next to the epitaph, arms wide open to the sky, looking down the hill to the Puget Sound and sang or shouted poetry and thanks to the world. And that’s just what we did that day.

Below are a few photos from the graveside ceremony of Big Joy.