James Francis Thompson

James (Jim) Francis Thompson died August 22, 2025, age 77, at his home after a prolonged neuromuscular illness. Jim was born January 31, 1948, in Birmingham, AL to Francis Newton Thompson of Centerfield, AL and Bess(ie) Green Thompson of Ohatchee, AL.

Jim graduated from Shades Mountain High School in Homewood, AL; obtained his Bachelor of in Science in Biology from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa; certificate in Laboratory Medicine from St. Vincent Hospital in Birmingham, AL; and his PhD in Zoology from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN. His dissertation was titled ‘Multivariate Techniques in the Systematic Analysis of the Kingsnakes, Genus Lampropeltis, with Emphasis on Infraspecific Variation: A Preliminary Study.” Reptiles, especially snakes, became a lifelong interest since Jim grew up, looking down due to gait issues as a child. That interest in reptiles expanded to Evolutionary Biology and Primatology, once he was in college. A high point of his life was visiting Down House, Charles Darwin’s home and estate in England, and meeting Jane Goodall at an Edgar Rice Burroughs (ERB) event.

After completing his PhD, Jim taught biology at Huntington College in Montgomery, AL for 10 years. Looking for a change, he found his academic home at Austin Peay State University (APSU) in Clarksville, TN, where he taught for 25 years. He first taught in the Laboratory Science program, eventually becoming Program Director. After that, he moved to the biology department and taught Anatomy and Physiology and Evolution until his full retirement in 2018. Jim never wanted to be a researcher, his focus and love was teaching and mentoring students.

He was known for being one of the hardest professors and his short answer/essay exams were challenging, to say the least. He wanted his students to succeed, and he helped them realize that they could overcome past academic difficulties to not only be good students, but also to excel academically. He became a beloved mentor and father figure to many students and stayed in contact with an enormous number of them to the day of his death. During his tenure at APSU, he served as mentor to many new faculty members and was involved in the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society (serving as President for two terms) and the Lambda Tau Honor Society (serving as faculty advisor). To give his students a distraction, he wore loud ties and clashing shirts at Huntington, and then he wore his signature Hawaiian shirts at APSU! After his full retirement in 2016, he served on the board of the Austin Peay State University Retirement Association (APSURA) as the parliamentarian, a role he had assumed unofficially in Biology Department meetings.

Jim was an avid book collector from his teenage years on, focusing on the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs (ERB) of Tarzan fame. His father fueled his love for ERB by taking him to every new Tarzan movie and encouraged him to read the Tarzan books in the Birmingham Public library. His mother gave him his first two ERB books one Christmas, and then later his father gave him a new printing of “Three Martian Novels,” and that began his ERB book collection. By the time Jim began college, he was an avid collector and was involved in ERB fandom, as a member of Burroughs Bibliophiles and later as a member of the ERB Circle of Friendship (ECOF). In 1982, Jim became one of the original 36 contributors to ERB-APA (Amateur Press Association) and continued writing articles until health issues prevented contributions.

Jim established and administered the ERB Chain of Friendship list serve (ERBCOF-List) beginning in August 1996 (with the support of APSU) providing one of the first online forums for ERB fans. Jim was awarded the Bibliophiles ERB Outstanding Achievement Award at the 1997 Dum-Dum. Jim served on the Board of Directors of the Burroughs Bibliophiles from 2002 to 2018, was assistant treasurer from 2015 to 2018, and then sat on the Board of Advisors. As chair of the Endowments Committee, he established The Burroughs Bibliophiles endowment at the University of Louisville to support the university’s ERB Collections. Jim’s book collecting expanded over time to other areas including science fiction, horror, history, evolutionary biology, and primatology.

Linda and Jim met on a blind date and thinking her a bit too much “a Little Miss Sunday School,” he took her to see “Vanishing Point,” an avant-garde road movie that he had already seen. To his surprise, Linda noticed a connection in the movie that he had missed, and that insight on Linda’s part led to more movie dates and marriage on February 14, 1972. Many friends did not think they were a good fit-too different for their marriage to last, but both worked to grow together, instead of apart, for the next 53 years. Their decision to marry was cemented by a common love of animals, especially cats. Jim gifted Linda with two Persian cats as an engagement present instead of a diamond ring.

Movies were Linda and Jim’s weekly date night out until Jim was confined to a wheelchair. Jim had very eclectic taste in movies: everything from foreign films, westerns, horror, science fiction, comedies, and even romances. His love of movies led him to be on the board of the Capri Community Theater in Montgomery, AL. After moving to Tennessee, the Belcourt Theater in Nashville became Jim and Linda’s movie mecca. His favorite director was Akira Kurosawa, but he also loved Orson Welles, Ken Russell, and David Lynch (to name just three more). Old comedies were a favorite, especially Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. He loved the old Universal horror movies, especially Dracula, which led to his involvement in the Count Dracula Fan Club.

Later his favorite science fiction/horror movie was “Alien” and all the “Alien” sequels. He described “Alien” as the monster he had waited his life for since it had a biological, evolutionary theme. He was thankful that streaming services allowed a movie date night until the Saturday before he died.

For most of his life, Jim’s travels were centered on attending the two major EBR events, the Dum Dum and the ECOF, wherever they were in the USA. Once in middle age, Jim with Linda in tow, was privileged to travel both domestically and internationally. Favorite domestic sites included Charleston, SC; Banner Elk, NC; Scottsdale, AZ; and Kawaii, HI. International trips included England (Down House), Scotland (Genealogy), Russia (ERB pen pal Yuri), Galapagos Islands and Ecuador (Darwin), Italy (Roman History) and Spain (Barcelona for Gaudi).

Jim was cremated and desired no funeral. In planning for his end of life, Jim said “Just throw my ashes in the back yard.” That left Linda with a dilemma which was resolved by the Chinese Parable of the Vinegar Jar. Jim was a declared atheist but had a philosophy of life: Taoism. In the Vinegar Jar Parable, Lao-Tzu, the founder of Taoism, tastes the vinegar, smiles and says, “It is vinegar, and it is not inherently good or bad; it is what it is.” That sums up Jim’s Philosophy of Life, “That when life is accepted as it is in nature, it is perfect and in accepting life’s circumstances the negative becomes positive.” A dear friend, Georgette Wright Sanders, a potter/sweetgrass weaver from Charleston, SC, is making a special “vinegar jar” urn for his ashes.

Jim was stubborn, and he could be a curmudgeon at times, but he was generous to a fault as well. He will be remembered by family, friends, colleagues and former students for his intelligence, love of learning, sense of humor (sometimes too sarcastic), immense vocabulary, and his ability to “talk anyone under the table.” He is survived by his wife Linda Wright Thompson (Clarksville, TN), sister Susan Thompson (Houston, AR), niece Rachel Moss (Cary, NC), and nephew Dalton Moss (Browns Summit, NC), three great nieces on the Thompson side (Kai, Journey and Marley), brother-in-law Tommy (Lisa) Wright (Wetumpka, AL), nephew-in-law Jonathan (Kristen) Wright (Wetumpka, AL), niece-in-law Christina (David) Fields (Prattville, AL), great nephew

(Cooper), two great nieces (Ellie Mae and Addison) on the Wright side and many Thompson and Green cousins. He is pre-deceased by his parents and ex-brother-in-law, Ron Moss (Asheville, NC). Finally, he is survived by seven beloved cats and pre- deceased by fourteen beloved purr babies that awaited him over the Rainbow Bridge.

His family asks that donations be made to either the ACLU or the Belcourt Theater inNashville, TN, in his name. He also wished that donations be made to the ERB-Bibliophiles fund, but there is no way to give money directly to that fund at this time. If one desires to donate to that fund, contact his wife Linda for information. There will be no funeral, but a Celebration of Life will be announced in the future on Jim and Linda’s Facebook pages.

Please visit James' tribute wall and share a memory with the family.