Jim Bliwas : A Life of Writing

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This podcast Jim Bliwas : A life of Writing was recorded shortly before his death in October 2020. A veteran of US News & Media, Jim had a lot of interesting life experiences and I feel privileged to have known him.

And so the writing stops… Jim Bliwas passed a few days ago.

I am writing this additional note on October 7th 2020, as I heard this evening that Jim Bliwas passed a few days ago. While it is a shock, it is not a surprise.

I was chasing Jim to do this recording for ages; I think COVID changed his thinking. In our only telephone conversation back in July. He told me he was reaching out to old friends and catching up. I asked about the podcast again and got the same answer, “Maybe”.

Then, out of the blue on September 1st he sent me a message to ask how he books a date. We recorded on the 17th, and by some miraculous fluke, the show went live earlier than my usual schedule on October 1st.

I am so pleased it went out when it did, as otherwise he would not have heard it. He contacted me to say it had prompted a lot of emails and messages from people.

Bless you and thank you, Jim, I will miss you.

My guest on today’s podcast is a veteran of US news and media; he says he was a big fish in a small pond, and that was the way he liked it. But it has always been a life of writing for Jim Bliwas.

Today Jim Bliwas creates marketing and content strategies for lawyers and other professional service firms. But writing was always in his blood.

Published at Eight

Jim wrote his first story when he was eight years old and sick at home from school. The plan was to earn extra credit from the teacher. When he returned to class and turned in his work, the teacher was so impressed she put it in the school library.

He has been writing ever since.

Jim’s first career was as a journalist, working as a reporter for TV stations in Minneapolis and San Francisco. He was a street reporter and weekend anchor; it was a dream job.

Working in the news and media, he has met presidents and film stars and has some stories tell, and yes, he does share a few of these on the show. We also discuss the cult of celebrity and how difficult it was to live a normal life when the public think they own a piece of you.

Jim moved out of television and into printed media, becoming the assistant editor of BusinessWeek magazine where he covered the financial and futures market. This led on to a career in the Product Development division of the New York Stock Exchange at a time of significant change.

NYSE Misses a Trick

Jim almost invented online trading for the Exchange in the 1980s. A cable TV system in Columbus Ohio had a two-way interactive capability and was looking for applications to test it. Jim thought it could be used for people to trade stocks on the NYSE. His bosses turned down the plan because, “Nobody will ever shop or trade stocks using a TV screen and a keypad.” How life has changed!

After this, Jim went on to work in a law firm and various consultancies, but the conduit for this was always his writing.

In 2001 he stepped out on his own. He saw an opportunity to create written material and content for professional organisations and could see the importance of this new media called the WORLD WIDE WEB. These companies were going to need help.

Jim has had a long career and is still writing content and social media articles every day. Not that I asked, but given that he met JFK as a child I suspect he must be my oldest guest to date.

Thank you for joining me with Jim Bliwas : A Life of Writing. You can connect with him through his links below.

Jim Bliwas Links:

Sadly the links given for Jim are no longer relevant. So instead here is a tribute from another of Jim’s LinkedIn friends.

Debesh Choudhury https://medium.com/our-own-story/if-you-suddenly-get-to-know-your-online-friend-is-no-more-479fbb58fa35

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