Former Oregon legislator, renowned attorney, and passionate science author James “Jim” Gardner was known to friends and family as a brilliant but humble man with a boundless sense of humor and a love for building personal connections with others. His professional reputation for excellence was exceeded only by the love and affection held by those closest to him.

Jim was raised in Kansas City, Missouri as the eldest of five siblings (alongside Esther, Ruth Louise, Mary “Dolly”, and John). His lifelong passion for learning led him to study philosophy and theoretical biology as an undergraduate at Yale University. As part of his thesis project for the Scholar of the House program, Jim conducted a series of private interviews with Jean-Paul Sartre in the fall of 1967. Alongside his studies, Jim worked as Feature Editor for Yale Scientific Magazine and interned at the Wall Street Journal.

After obtaining his undergraduate degree, Jim served for three years in a clandestine branch of US Army Intelligence in Germany. There, he developed a lifelong passion for Germany, its language and its food.

Upon returning to civilian life, he entered Yale Law School and earned the position of Article Editor for the Yale Law Journal. After law school, Jim served as a clerk for Judge Alfred T. Goodwin on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and then clerked for Justice Potter Stewart on the United States Supreme Court. During both clerkships, Jim was involved in developing and refining some of the key judicial doctrines surrounding the fields of antitrust law and civil rights.

Following his judicial clerkships, Jim moved permanently to Oregon and immediately sought election as a Democrat to the Oregon State Senate. Jim served in the Senate from 1978 to 1984, where he served as Chairman of the Education Subcommittee of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means and as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Trade and Economic Development. Jim was especially proud of his early sponsorship of bills that sought to expand gay and lesbian civil rights in 1979, 1981, and 1983. He was consistently ranked as the outstanding member of the Oregon State Senate in polls conducted by the Oregonian and other newspapers.

Following his time in the Senate, Jim co-founded what would eventually become the lobbying firm of Gardner & Gardner alongside his wife and lifelong partner Lynda. Their small family firm would go on to represent some of the world’s largest multinational corporations and helped promote legislation that accelerated the rise of green technology and expanded job opportunities in Oregon.

Alongside his lobbying practice, Jim co-founded the Conference of World Regions (CWR), a non-profit organizations dedicated to improving international communication and educating elected officials on science- and technology-driven policy issues. Participants in CWR included major organizations such as the European Commission, the OECD, the World Bank, the US Council of State Governments, and the US Council for International Business. Jim’s passion for these topics grew out of his lifelong love of travel and cultural exchange, and he remained a consummate traveler and explorer even after the dissolution of CWR.

Jim leaves behind a wealth of writings and intellectual contributions, particularly on topics at the intersection of science and philosophy. He wrote his first book, Effective Lobbying in the European Community, in 1991. His first science book, Biocosm, was published in 2003 and was selected in by Amazon.com’s editors as one of the top ten best science books of that year. He published his third book, The Intelligent Universe, in 2007. Features on his books appeared in TIME magazine, US News & World Reports, Harper’s magazine, and National Geographic. Jim was also the author of numerous articles published in the Wall Street Journal, WIRED, World Link, Complexity, the International Journal of Astrobiology, and other prestigious journals. In addition to his own writings, Jim also served as chief freelance book reviewer for the Sunday Oregonian on popular science and technology nonfiction books.

In spite of his lifetime of professional achievements, Jim’s greatest passion was for his family and friends. Jim was inseparable from his wife Lynda, with whom he traveled the world and shared a professional practice for decades. Together, they instilled in their children Rachel and Joe a passion for discovery and exploration and built a wealth of friendships and close associations that helped provide comfort and warm memories during Jim’s final months of illness. Jim died peacefully, surrounded by family members, on the day of his 44th wedding anniversary. He is survived by his wife, children, siblings, and grandchildren Anza and Elio.

A memorial service will be held at a later date, once concerns over the spread of Covid have lessened. Information regarding a memorial will be posted to this site.