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OBITUARY: James (Jim) Brand - 10/03/1950-14/11/2020
James (Jim) Brand passed away at home on November 14, 2020, following a brief spell in Royal Sussex County Hospital, aged 70.
James was born and brought up in the small town of Dufftown in the heart of Speyside in north east Scotland, famous for its single malt whisky. James was educated at Mortlach School and Keith Grammar School.
In 1972 he moved to London to work at Drummonds Bank in Whitehall, almost next door to Scotland Yard where, on March 9, 1973, an IRA bomb exploded while he was at work, blowing in the windows.
But James’s real interests lay in travel, so he joined Gulf Air as a flight attendant, flying mostly to the Middle East. In 1980 he moved to Brighton and, after a short spell at Dan Air, joined British Airways, where he worked on long haul flights for more than 28 years as a cabin steward and latterly a purser.
His love of travel started at an early age when, as a four-year-old, he got on a bus taking him to the railway station, from where he planned to travel to the seaside. His subsequent career took him all over the world, but his ‘go to’ places were always Sitges, Gran Canaria and Berlin, which he visited countless times. There he was able to relax and be himself after “working in a metal tube in the sky” and he made many lasting friendships.
Having a lifelong passion for music and theatre, James would often travel to London to concerts or theatre productions. His first love was musicals - he saw Everyone’s Talking About Jamie seven times. It was his passion for theatre that led to him becoming a dresser for several of the Brighton Alternative Panto productions, where his quiet and reassuring presence was appreciated by both cast and crew.
James would often be found sitting quietly at the end of the bar in Legends, Bar Broadway or The Queen’s Arms, with a large cigar, watching one of his favourite drag acts on the Sunday circuit and chatting amiably to friends old and new.
James was a man of contrasts: being very private but sociable; ‘careful’ but generous; gentle but passionate. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him. He is survived by his brother Gary and sisters Pam and Norrie.
James’s favourite quote was: “No man is a failure who has friends”.
