Hunt was a great historian and a great person

Sometimes the world will bring you to your knees. For me along with many others in the Napa Valley, Wednesday, June 28, 2017, was one of those days.

I rolled out of bed for work at 4:10 a.m., ahead of my alarm clock. I then saw a text message alert from a friend of mine informing me that Jim Hunt passed away on Tuesday morning at age 72. My heart sunk faster than a deep-running fishing lure. The news broke on both traditional (Napa Valley Register) and social (Facebook) media on Wednesday throughout the day.

In my ten years as a sports reporter for the St. Helena Star and Weekly Calistogan, I got to know Hunt very well. Hunt, however, was not just a news source. Hunt was a story-teller that had you longing for more.

Hunt graduated from St. Helena High in 1962 and was a three-sport star (football, basketball, and baseball) for the Saints. Hunt later went on to play defensive back and quarterback at the University of California-Berkeley. He frequently talked about a game Cal played against Navy. In that contest, Hunt intercepted a Roger Staubach pass. Yes, that Roger Staubach. For those kinds of stories, I say tell it as many times as you can.

It was only fitting that Hunt was a storyteller. Hunt was also a history teacher and head football coach at Calistoga High from 1978-1984, piloting the Wildcats to the CIF North Coast Section Class B championship. Under Hunt’s guidance, Calistoga went 43-19-2.

Teaching and coaching were Hunt’s livelihood while a member of the workforce. He taught at Lenox School for Boys in Massachusetts before returning to his Napa Valley roots. Hunt taught at Justin-Siena in 1976-177 before taking the aforementioned job at Calistoga. Hunt later took the same position at Rancho Cotate (Rohnert Park).

Hunt contributed to both sides of Upvalley history. As a Saints football player, he was part of St. Helena winning streak of 46 games, which spanned from 1960-1964. The streak was 53 games without a defeat.

On the Calistoga side, besides the aforementioned NCS Class B title, Hunt coached the famed “Dirty Dozen” team in 1984. The Wildcats entered that season with just 12 players, later gaining a 13th. Despite a limited roster, Calistoga went 7-2 that season. Though the Wildcats had seasons with better win totals and more achievements, one would be hard pressed to find a team that embodied toughness and resilience like that one.

In retirement, Hunt became the de facto Upvalley historian, compiling record books for St. Helena and Calistoga. Hunt also pioneered the formation of the St. Helena High Athletic Hall of Fame, which started in 2013. Hunt was inducted in 2014. Hunt attacked his work as a historian with the same vigor he had as a coach and player. He described it as “a labor of love” and my goodness, it was labor and he loved it.

I only knew Hunt the last eight and a half years he was alive but the first time I met him, I felt an instant connection. I am a first-generation American with both parents, sets of grandparents along with many aunts and uncles coming to the United States from Italy. Hunt went to St. Helena High with two of my aunts, Julie (Santi) Prince and Anna (Santi) True. He and Aunt Julie were in the same graduating class together. He constantly told me that my aunts are beautiful. They are in more ways than one if I do say so myself.

I first met Hunt in the summer of 2008 when St. Helena and Calistoga continued their on again/off again football series. It marked the first meeting since 1989. I brought two hats with me, one from St. Helena, the other from Calistoga. I had him pose for three pictures and he was remarkably receptive. For the Star, he wore the Saints hat. For the Calistogan, he wore the Wildcats hat. For the Register, he held both hats side-by-side.

Jim and I were not friends as far as doing things together socially but whenever I talked to him, whether it was interviewing him for a newspaper story or randomly crossing paths with him grocery shopping at Nob Hill Foods in Napa, there was a connection. In fact, our conversations were so great I had to actually remember that I had shopping to do.

I’ll be 45 years old in August so I guess to me, Jim was an “old timer.” However, I mean that description with respect. Whether it pertains to sports or life, there is something remarkably refreshing hearing someone tell stories that I either a) was not alive to witness or b) was alive when they occurred but so far on the periphery when they happened but suddenly feel invested in such events.

In 2014, Calistoga was in the midst of a terrible season in which it went 2-8. I had nothing uplifting about that team to write but thank goodness for the Dirty Dozen. Thanks to then Calistoga High athletic director D.J. Hein, members of that team along with Hunt were honored at halftime in an October matchup against Tomales. In the weeks leading up to that game, I did numerous one-on-one interviews with members of that team along with Hunt. I remember feeling incredibly fascinated.

In the late 2000s to mid 2010s, St. Helena had historic seasons in football, baseball, basketball and volleyball to name a few. It was refreshing to see Hunt as a regular presence. Hunt was not an old timer that believed his era was the only one. He genuinely appreciated youngsters from the millennial era like Richard Hoppe, Charles Bertoli, the Brink twins (Joey and Danny) along with Dylan Alvarado.

The feeling was similar when I heard him talk about times growing up as a student-athlete in St. Helena, long before the social media era and long before Napa Valley was known as “The Wine Country.”

I get that Hunt’s passing is part of life. The only guarantees are birth, taxes and death. Jim, I’m in no hurry to get where you are going but I have no doubt we will meet again some day. Sharing stories.