I am so sorry just hearing about this. Thank you for helping my daughter graduate from A&M

You brought greatly needed diversity to College Station, TAMU and the SCOM curriculum. Rhetoric and Western Thought was one of my most memorable and enjoyable classes. I was thrilled to hear of your well-deserved appointment to head of the department. We are all better people - and more respectful communicators - for knowing you. I hope you have found the peace you deserve.

To the Aune Family, Iam Jim's cousin Tom Wisdom from lexington Nebraska,I can still remember growing up and playing at Elbow lake and Thief River Falls and Grandma Bjerknes, My mom(hazel) is 94 and still living in North Platte along with my sister Linda, brother Harry lives in Minnesota.We are all going to miss Jim,our thoughts and prayers are with the Aune family, would love to hear from

I will always remember Dr. Aune for his kindness, his conversations and his encouragement. He was a great man and I am privileged to have learned from him.

Even friends from long ago
will miss you forever.

Jim,
 Thank you for being my friend.
          Love,  Sue

I was privileged to have Dr. Aune as an instructor and as a dissertation committee member during my time at TAMU. He was a wonderful teacher, scholar, and mentor - generous with both his time and his encouraging feedback. His sense of humor was wonderful. He will be greatly missed.

Dr. Aune—I never quite warmed up to calling him Jim, despite his insistence—was a great thinker, a compassionate teacher, and a good man. I will miss his earnestness and his sense of humor.

I only took one class with Dr. Aune, but it is one of the few I remember in great detail. It truly takes someone rare and special to break down a subject such as rhetoric and make it so enjoyable and memorable. Dr. Aune's heart and personality glowed every bit as brightly as his brilliant intellect.
-Lauren (Class of 2010)

I am so sorry to hear about this. Jim for me was one of the brightest lights in rhetoric studies, committed politically and yet philosophically open-minded. I hope his soul has found peace.

Jim once told me that we as professors had a moral obligation to be good teachers (as opposed to being only focused on research). He certainly was one--he made me appreciate a class that had nothing to do with my sub-field, just by virtue of his passion. I really appreciate the way he thought so deeply about life and scholarship. The world is a lesser place without him.

I miss my friend. We were so different in every way--religion, politics, culture--and yet he took so much interest in my work and provided such great insights for my improvement. I miss smoking cigars with him and discussing political rhetoric under the trees outside Bolton Hall; I miss him sniffing his snuff before faculty meetings; I miss his unique wit and wisdom. I miss Jim.

Jim was a constant presence in my career. His advice never seemed like advice, and yet now I’m very aware of how his words shifted my thinking often and on so many topics: matters intellectual, professional, and personal. He inspired me, he gave me an idea of what was possible, and mostly he gave me courage. Miriam, I send you courage and love, too.

Jim Aune was at the center of a cohort of brash, smart, take-no-prisoners revolutionaries that marched onto the field of Communication and changed it forever. I was not present for Jim's intellectual forays with his colleagues, but I heard rumors and wanted to be a fly on the wall. He graced me by reading my work and respecting it. Now the battle is over. Rest in peace, Jim.

My favorite of many great professors in the COMM dept at TAMU, Jim was always an inspiration through his wit, candor, curiosity, and generosity. As a grad student, I knew I wanted to think and teach like him; he taught me so much. At the bottom of one paper I turned in, he wrote: 'Thanks. I learned a lot.' I've never seen such a kind comment on an essay, and I'll never forget it. Nor Jim.

Thank you for your time, patience, scholarship, and commitment. I can't imagine that College Station was your idea of Heaven, but your were much needed and very much beloved. When I recall my college experience, especially in the presence of non-Aggies, you are one of my proofs that my education was exceptional and personal. And let my final words be thank you.

I am very sad to know the passing of Dr. Aune from the Department Website. Dr. Aune is still very young. I don't know what happened to him. He is very nice and talented. If my oral English is better , he would be the one I loved to chat with frequently. I have some natural goodwill towards him. I remember he is a Jewish, who could share a lot of historical feelings with the Chinese. I deeply remem

I deeply remember that one of my paper about the Chinese historical feelings could be echoed by him. Please forward my condolence to his family. No matter how far away you are from us, we will love you forever.

He was one of the good ones. He inspired his students to go one step further than they thought they could. Rest in peace, Dr. Aune. You were well-loved.

A kind word from Jim was something many of us enjoyed. Jim was probably the most respectful colleague I have known--he let me know that he respected me and students we worked with. Thinking with him, just talking with him, was intellectually stimulating, never a contest, always a journey. Jim, I know you had your own way of seeing the world. It will be a lesser world without you.

What can you say about a mentor and friend you wish you could have spent more time with? Only that they will be greatly missed. Jim was this for me and for so many other students. He provoked thought, provoked you, provoked reading deeper, but always with charity, openness, and kindness - exactly what you would want from a teacher.

A kind teacher and generous scholar, Jim inspired me to have confidence in my own ideas and abilities. He offered his kind words when I needed them most; thankfully, I was able to tell him just how much they meant later on. He leaves a void that no one can fill. I will always remember him as a Buffy fan, a brilliant academic, and a wonderful friend. You are truly missed, Jim.

I am forever grateful for the interest Jim, as brilliant and well read as he was, took in me as a student, researcher, and person -- especially being gracious enough to be my dissertation advisor. My prayers are with him and his family, as well as his many friends, colleagues, and students, as we all deal with this loss. He is already missed greatly.

Jim, your whit and cares will be missed. As a classmate and later as a pen pal it has been a privilege to have known you. I haven't seen you since you TRF, MN, but we've exchange news of Chicago/Evanston over the past few years. I will think of you while I stand on the "L" platform waiting on the train. My deepest condolences to Miriam and the boys, may you all find peace.

Very sad to hear of Jim Aune's death. He was an great scholar and friend. I will keep his family, friends and students in my thoughts. Shalom

My best memoires of Jim will be from serving with him on Ph.D. committees. The way he questioned students in dissertation defenses said so much about him as a man. He asked hard questions, but never put his own knowledge on display so much as gave the students the best chance to show how much they knew and to grow in their knowledge. I vow to emulate him in the future.

It seems like just yesterday you and I were outside of Bolton Hall doing our usual ritual of smoking and talking. There were so many days when I doubted my ability to be in graduate school, yet you always seemed to have a knack for making me believe in myself. You are my friend, my mentor, my advisor and I look forward to seeing you again someday. I shall miss you terribly James Aune.

I did not know Jim well. We served on a committee together, and I saw him last a couple of weeks ago. But I liked who he was. I liked his energy. I liked when he entered the room. I liked to listen to him. And I dislike that I will not feel those things again.

I worked for the Department of Communication for 3 and a half years as a student worker and very much enjoyed working with Dr. Aune. He was very kind and cared about his students immensely. COMM students grumbled about taking COMM 301: Rhetoric because it is so difficult but they loved taking it with Aune because he broke it down and made it fun. Dr. Aune, you will be greatly missed.

A brilliant scholar, a wonderful teacher. I'm priviledged to have been one of his students.

Whenever Jim spoke, I listened very carefully.

Now's the time to Whoop, my friend. I'll miss your Facebook posts...but I'll see you on the other side of the River Jordan.

A terrible loss for Aggieland. Dr. Aune was my absolute favorite professor at A&M. His intellect, encouragement, kindness and quirky humor made him the best kind of teacher. I'm heartbroken for his family and all of the future students who will miss knowing this great man.
  -Brooke Pearson Hall (Class of 03')

darn. So many unfinished conversations. So many wry comments about pols and polis and Pelosi never to be heard or waited for again. Sure wish I could have said goodbye...am now I reckon. Shalom my friend...

I was fortunate to take a class with Dr. Aune last semester and it was an amazing experience. Dr. Aune understood how I felt about being different as the only African student in the department. He challenged me to use my unique differences in culture to tell my story through narratives. I loved writing about my experiences as a Nigerian in America. Thank you Dr. Aune for inspiring me, RIP!

His friends will have their stories, and their special pain. But James Arnt Aune was the type of colleague who could not escape notice, even by those on the outer fringes, for his scholarship was noteworthy, his demeanor warm. I have no stories, but this: an accomplished person is gone, and we will have no more from him, sadly. And, sometimes the depth of humanity eludes us, sadly.