James M. Sloman ’65
Jim was born Dec. 2, 1943, in Levittown, Pa., the son of James A. Sloman, a World War II Army captain who didn’t meet his son until after the end of the war, and Ann Serena Grace-Sloman.
He graduated from Middletown High School in Levittown before attending Princeton, where he majored in philosophy, was active in Triangle Club, published in the Nassau Lit, and took his meals at Charter. He then received an MFA in film from Columbia and pursued a career in copywriting, editing, and publishing. Jim’s career included songwriting, stock-market analysis, and software and website design, along with his avocation of playing a variety of musical instruments.
He lived briefly in North Carolina, moved to the Miami area for 20 years, and then spent the rest of his life in California in Encinitas, where he passed away Feb. 6, 2015. During his life he also managed to publish nine books and maintained a personal website, manyblessings.net, for more than 30 years.
He is survived by his younger sister, Jeanne Sloman-Vasquez; and an extensive family of nieces, nephews, and other relatives. We extend our condolences to the family on their loss of this energetic and creative free spirit.
Paw in print
December 2025
Judge Michael Park ’98; shifts in DEI initiatives; a night at the new art museum.
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Comments
Daniel Marcellus
8 Years AgoJimmy was my best friend in...
Jimmy was my best friend in high school in Middletown, N.Y. We were on the swimming team together. We both were under the influence of Alan Ingraham, our high school English teacher, who was a Princeton graduate in philosophy. He is probably why Jim went to Princeton in the same major. In those days we read Ayn Rand and saw our lives unfolding like the heroic and creative individualists suggested by “The Fountainhead.”
Princeton moved Jim away from science and math and toward literature, philosophy, and story telling. Not too long after college he married Tonia Weeks, an artist, who illustrated some of his books. He went to EST, thought a lot about the world, and came up with a beautiful, simple, clear, and elegant book on the essence of Buddism. The book was titled “Nothing.”
I lost touch with him. At some point along the way, he went to Chicago to learn commodity trading. For a while he made a lot of money, but then he lost it all. There was always this tension — should he try to master the world, or should he renounce it all.
Toward the end of his life, he was in California fully in synch with the human potential movement. To all reports, his life gained an integrity then, he made a lot of friends, helped a lot of people, was frequently impoverished, and he discovered and lived what he was made for. For this, there were many who loved him.
Richard Gobeille
8 Years AgoHis kindness and generosity touched many people...
First, a few corrections. I have been a friend of Jim Sloman over 40 years. He lived in Miami before moving to North Carolina. He created predictive software for commodity markets. While in California, Jim briefly lived in Encinitas before staying longer in Tiburon, then Petaluma, where he passed from cancer. His kindness and generosity touched many people. This is evidenced by testimony at his memorial service, which can be seen on YouTube under Jim Sloman’s Memorial Service, Petaluma. His ripple effects are significant, especially regarding the environment. He often spoke glowingly of his Princeton experience.