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James W. Carey passed away on Monday night at his home in Rhode Island. He was the author of Television and the Press (1988), Communication as Culture (1989) and James Carey: A Critical Reader (1997). More importantly, he was the caring and passionate teacher of thousands of students at the University of Iowa, the University of Illinois, and Columbia University.

Here is what Nick Lemann, dean of the Columbia Journalism School, wrote about his passing:

There is so much to say about Jim that I can’t do anything but scratch the surface now. Suffice it to say that he was a figure of world renown in the field of communications scholarship, the founder of our Ph.D. program, longtime teacher with Steve Isaacs of Critical Issues, and a man with a rare gift for touching practically everybody he met. He was a magical teacher. As is not universal in the upper-academic realm where Jim dwelt professionally, he loved journalists, and believed that universities have something important to teach us. (Jim’s last major accomplishment at the school was writing the syllabus for an ambitious new full-year course, which he never got to teach, called “A History of Journalism for Journalists.”) He is primarily responsible for our being just about the only journalism school where professional scholars and professional journalists live in true harmony, friendship, mutual respect, and collaboration—that’s a rare and precious gift.

Jim was a dear friend of mine. He was a lifelong Cubs fan. There are two kinds of Cubs fans in the world: the fatalists and the optimists. Jim was an optimist. He was the sort who would say to himself "let's play two!" like Ernie Banks, whenever he entered a room. I never had the pleasure or honor of taking a class with Jim. But I considered him a role model and mentor anyway. He showed that one could write with intellectual complexity and verve. One could teach with rigor and style. And one could lead and inspire by example.

I know that all of us who got to know Jim already miss him dearly. But his spirit lives on in his students.

Here is a wonderful tribute to Jim from the Poynter Web site:

... When you asked him a question, you could never predict which reservoir of knowledge he would draw from. I can see him now in thought, squinting his eyes, scratching his head -- or a stubble of beard -- dipping into a deep well of learning. One day he might quote a passage from Yeats or James Joyce. Or he’d dazzle you with a quick but detailed history of the beginnings of modern journalism in 18th century France. Even more ingratiating, he could spin an anecdote -- always on point -- from the down-and-dirty history of the Chicago newspaper wars, or a moment in the ancient history of the Boston Red Sox that cast a distant light upon contemporary American politics. ...

UPDATE: Here is a lovely page full of tributes to Jim from his students and colleagues.