Marine journalist extraordinaire Jim Fullilove 1947-2025
I am sad that I will never get to hang out with Jim Fullilove again, but glad to find this ethereal image of him in my photo archives. I don’t recall what marine electronics event we were headed toward in mid January 2014, but discovering that the LL Bean flagship store had a 3,500 gallon streaming river aquarium near its restrooms made for a memorable start. And while the viewing bubble was scaled for children, Jim more than willingly got on his knees to mug for the salmon and my camera.
Jim’s journalism skills first impressed me in the 80’s when he was editing National Fishermen magazine and it was still thriving here in midcoast Maine. But it was marine electronics that really brought our paths together. When I eagerly attended my very first NMEA Conference — somewhere in Florida, about 2002 — there was my fellow Camden resident Jim, already well into a 27-year gig as Editor of the Marine Electronics Journal, where he also did much of the reporting and writing.
Jim generously taught me a lot about the small but complex marine electronics industry, and also modeled how to politely but firmly question manufacturers at the numerous press events and factory visits we tag teamed. I think he also improved the Journal over the years; I don’t recall reading MEJ articles that weren’t well composed and fact checked; and I wasn’t surprised to learn from this loving James Fullilove obituary that he made his last issue deadline even after chemo treatments.
Thanks to the MEJ’s digital library, you can read the July/August Buyer’s Guide issue that Jim likely had large hand in producing, as well as the September/October issue where he shares the masthead with new editor Darrell Nicholson (a good choice, I think).
Jim was also a pleasure to hang out with when we were off duty, often unrolling true stories of his youthful and adult adventures — many memorialized in his obit — with quiet but wicked dry humor. My personal Fullilove highlight is when we made a grueling but fascinating 2013 round trip to South Korea for a press tour sponsored by Intellian — my factory tour coverage here — and the Korean government (which was trying to encourage recreational boating as a cure for high levels work stress).
Jim had prearranged a terrific side trip to Busan — picture two curious and wide-eyed dudes sipping tea on an immaculate fast train — that yielded this Panbo piece about Dr. Yung’s NMEA 2000 teaching lab. Thanks again, Jim! And then on our last night, he challenged Intellian’s then new global marketing manager Daniel Warren to tour Seoul’s exotic cocktail lounge scene in search of a perfect dirty martini.
Which is how we found ourselves first in a windowless but elegant “speakeasy” where a 1920’s dressed bartender mixed yet more “test-tails” with ballet like precision, and then on the street mugging with fake gangster guns. It was a terrible idea to travel back to Camden with only a couple hours of sleep and major hangovers, but we chuckled about it for years after.
Rest in Peace, Jim Fullilove; it was very good to know you.
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PS 1/7/26: I was just reminded that Jim took me along to visit the fascinating New England Wireless & Steam Museum in January 2007. Unfortunately Jim’s article about NEWSM does not seem to be in the MEJ online archives, but my own archives yielded this image of Jim taking his turn at the museum’s still preserved — and maybe still sometimes wildly sparking — Marconi shore-to-ship wireless station:
Thank you Ben, for Jim’s story. He was a year older than me, but I played football with him at Greenwich High, and remember his rambunctious persona. I remember going to his house for a huge party with many hundreds of kids gathered one Saturday night when his parents weren’t there. Of course it was during football season and the coach found out, and we all paid penance for attending. The good thing was that most of the team went. I’m sorry I never saw him again after high school!
BRAVO
Ben,
Thanks for recognizing Jim for who he was. Any conversation with Jim left me smiling. We had many dinners at industry events and a few rides together in Maine. I lost touch after retiring on the west coast but he ( and your good self) contributed much to our industry.
This was great, Ben.
I don’t have the ability to adequate describe Jim and more importantly how critical a role he played within the ‘small but complex’ world of Marine Electronics. Jim had a way to pass on wisdom with wit and was uniquely beloved among the entire NMEA Membership for those lucky to have spent even a small time speaking with him. He would listen to my crazy opinions across a broad spectrum of topics, and without judgement nor condescension would be able to point out where my logic was flawed or non-existent, always with a laugh. When I first learned of his diagnosis I was personally crushed, but when I spoke with Jim he still himself, sense of humor intact, and was just thankful to have a chance to get his affairs in order rather than if he was to fall off his motorcycle. His perspective, on all topics, be it the performance of a radar to mortality, always proved to be enlightening to the rest of us. I was at least able to thank Jim for his contributions to our industry, and I wish I had another chance on the phone to thank him for his contributions to my growth personally and professionally, but he wouldn’t take a bow for either. He’d just nod, smile, and say talk to you soon.
Jim. Looking forward to talking again soon!
– Labozza
Great story, Ben. Jim was an excellent editor and was also great fun to hang out with at the bar after the boat show closed. A wry sense of the absurd suffused his being. He could tell you the most outrageous story with a hint of his sly smile and you were never quite sure if it was an amazing fact drawn from his wide base of knowledge or a ripe, Fullilovian jape. He was one of a kind.
The new issue of the Marine Electronics Journal includes a great article about the fragmented history this electronics niche, even including a map of relevant museums. But unfortunately left out is the wonderful New England Wireless and Steam Museum that was created by one of NMEA’s co-founders and covered in depth by Jim Fullilove when NMEA was turning 50 years old in 2007! Hence the PS I just added to this entry and at least a letter to the editor in a coming issue of MEJ.
https://www.marineelectronicsjournal-digital.com/marineelectronicsjournal/january_february_2026/