Jim Varsos, Alaska’s Balladier, succumbed to end-stage cancer on Tuesday, October 5th. Varsos had been diagnosed in mid-September and released details of the diagnosis on September 18th.
KSRM had received reports that Varsos had passed away on Tuesday. Although unconfirmed by family, Varsos social media posts stated that his cancer was untreatable by chemotherapy or surgery and he was given 3 – 6 months to live.
According to several posts on the Hobo Jim Fan Club on Facebook, he passed away in the early morning hours on Tuesday, October 5th at his home in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife Cyndi by his side.
Hobo Jim said that after years of working in the state as a commercial fisherman, logger, as well as cowboy, he took to writing songs about his occupations and wilderness lifestyle. His iconic songs, beloved by Alaskans across the state, are etched into the minds of many including the Iditarod Trail Song and Fishin’ For Chickens. His song “The Rock”, which he co-wrote with Russell Smith, has been recorded by Etta James and George Jones, he also co-wrote the Janis Ian song “Empty”.
Ian took to social media to announce the news:
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been set up to help pay for expenses with the goal of raising $75,000. The individual organizing the GoFundMe account for Hobo Jim stated that he is going to leave the account open in an effort to still reach the initial goal of $75,000. Over 50 people have donated so far. The GoFundMe link can be found here.
