August 10, 1979
[Written by Jimbo's mother in her book "My Son Jimbo"]
On August 10 Jimbo got up, had breakfast, ran, joked, played tennis, talked on the telephone, promised to sell his car and clean his room, and waved as I drove off to [volunteer work at] the National Revenue Tennis Classic tournament. At 2 p.m., he sat in a crotch of a sycamore tree 75 feet above the ground, talking with his friend Rick Hergesell of the future, but also expressing the bittersweet nostalgia for the boyhood that was ending. And then in a moment it was over and he was no more. A life of youthful vitality and health, seemingly invulnerable, in one instant obliterated.
From the Columbus Citizen-Journal:
Tags: James Sherman, killed, shock, son, tennis, tournament, Upper Arlington, youthYouth Killed After Shock, 75-Foot Fall
An 18-year-old Upper Arlington youth was killed Friday afternoon when he stepped on a power line as he was climbing in a tree and fell 75 feet to a blacktop surface, Upper Arlington police said.
James Sherman, son of Virginia and Richard U. Sherman, was pronounced dead at Riverside Hospital about 3:30 p.m. A June graduate of Upper Arlington High School, he was to attend Miami University in the fall. He was on his high school varsity [hockey] and tennis teams, a neighbor said.
Sherman’s next-door neighbor, Rick Hergesell, who was also in the tree when the accident occurred, was jarred loose by the shock, said his father. … The youths were climbing down when Sherman stepped on the power line.
Hergesell said his son and Sherman sometimes camped overnight by a pond near the tree and frequently climbed it. “They’re just adventurous kids who wanted to do something,” Hergesell said.
Hergesell said his son told him that Sherman fell limp after he touched the wire and made no attempt to break his fall as he fell through the branches to the pavement. Sherman landed on his back.
Sherman had been working at the National Revenue Tennis Classic [the week of his death]. He was the youngest of six children.