Obituary: Farewell to "Jimmy" Froidevaux
DIED IN THAILAND Jean-Pierre Froidevaux (75) died on July 26 in his adopted country of Thailand. "Jimmy" was one of the best-known Swiss motorsport photographers. A personal obituary. I remember exactly when and where I first met "Jimmy", as everyone called him. For the weekly trade journal Motorsport aktuell, which hired me permanently a year later, [...]
I remember exactly when and where I met "Jimmy", as everyone called him, for the first time. I first reported on a race, the SAR circuit race in Dijon, in April 1976 for the weekly specialist newspaper Motorsport aktuell, which hired me permanently a year later. As the son of an amateur racing driver, I grew up with Swiss racing and knew a lot of people before I started my career as a journalist. But I didn't know some of the important people I would have to deal with from then on (and to this day). "If you don't know something or don't know someone, just ask Jimmy," the editorial manager advised me. "You'll recognize him by his full beard."
A formative impression
You really couldn't miss Jimmy. At first, he gave me the impression of a Neanderthal man (I kept teasing him about it long after the beard had come off), but after that he was just an extremely nice, friendly, helpful and simply likeable person. Since then, we have been very good colleagues and have traveled to countless car races around the world together.
WC as a darkroom
When there was no digital photography yet, but we were under time pressure as reporters for the bible of motorsport at the time, Jimmy always took his lab with him. The toilet in the hotel room, which we always shared, was converted into a darkroom so that the black-and-white films could be developed from training on Saturday evening and sometimes on race day. Peter Wyss (text) and Jean-Pierre Froidevaux (photos) were the authors of many a line - we formed a team that other editorial teams could be envious of.
He loved life
Jimmy also worked for the Keystone photo agency, then for BLICK, and so the Zurich native traveled more to Grands Prix and less to Swiss races. He didn't become rich, except in terms of experience, but he never complained about low fees or too few assignments. As a photographer, he enjoyed his work much more than before as a "PlÀttlileger", sometimes had several girlfriends at the same time, loved traveling, socializing, camaraderie, good food, fine wine and cigars - and of course motor racing.
Off to Thailand
As he never put or was never able to put anything on the high side, he emigrated to Thailand when he reached retirement age. He knew the country and its people from various detours between Formula 1 races in Asia. There, the AHV was enough to live on and even to build a small house in the middle of the prairie. Jimmy married a younger Thai woman, to whom he was a caring husband and a father to their son.
Always connected to the world...
He kept in touch with racing by attending races on Thai tracks, where there were always a few Swiss riders in action, whom Jimmy had also known all his life. Hardly a day went by without him posting photos from the past or the present on his Facebook page. And when we didn't meet up on his rare visits to Switzerland, we stayed in touch thanks to Facebook and Skype.
... and now gone from her
Jimmy, who would have turned 75 on September 28, will never call again to ask how things are going and what's new. He died of a heart attack in Thailand on Friday, July 26. Just a few hours after he had posted something about Formula 1 in Hockenheim and the Tour de France.
Rest in peace, Jimmy. Anyone who ever got to know you will never forget you.
The editorial team and publishing house send our deepest condolences to the relatives.
