Jim Dance wrote his last column for the Miami Herald 16 years ago this month. It was prophetically titled "From a store of memories." He died just two weeks and one day later.

Jim was one of those reporter/writers whose view of the world was tilted to the ironic, the comic and the irreverent. Like any good reporter, his cynicism was touched with a clear view of right and wrong, and always open to the idea that goodness could still prevail.

I guess by today’s weird standard, he would be called a "curmudgeon" or some such silly label. But to those who knew him, his crankiness was roused most by hype, pretense, fakery and pomposity. His view of journalism was simple: Be quick to bite but only leave bite marks on the mighty — they can take care of themselves.

But his last column was a treasure trove of witticism and flotsam and jetsam of knowledge that would appeal to just about anyone who loves the flotsam and jetsam of life. For example, quoting a letter from a reader in Worcester, MA, Jim quotes: "There are three words in the English language in which all the vowels appear in order. I know two of them, but cannot recall the third. The ones I remember are ‘facetious’ and ‘abstemious."

Usually, around Christmas, Jim would start a column with the complaint: "Well, 40 years later and still no pony."

In another column, Jim, who also wrote editorials for the Herald, commented on the process of writing in what I think is one of the funniest commentaries I have read on writing a column. In replying to a reader who had suggested a better way to begin one of his pieces, Jim answered: "Thank you, Mr. Riso. Perhaps you missed my earlier policy statement where in I explained that this is a joint-effort column, designed to be just as hard to read as it is hard to write…if my first paragraph presented an avenue of thought that could be followed to an understanding of what I was trying to say, everybody would quit right there. Do not tip you hand, especially when you are not holding anything, I always say."

Well, of course, Jim Dance’s columns were not hard to read but a joy to look forward to like a good book or some other pleasure. I have always vouched for another famous columnist’s warning that "Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory." However, in Jim’s case, I think his writings and observations, usually presenting at least one unforgettable ‘bon mot’ per column, were special.

Sixteen years is a long time to miss something that good and I just wanted to recall a talented man who wrote well but not long enough.

And let him have the final word as he ended the last column he would ever write "…it is at this point that I cease filling this space temporarily for a mutually shared respite. Provocative and entertaining commentary will be provided by my betters during the interim for the common weal and greater good of all. Especially me."