Jamie Erickson Greenberg,22 Obituary

Jamie Nisse Erickson Greenberg died of leukemia on April 4, 2013 at Brigham
& Women's Hospital in Boston. He was an impassioned philosopher, an artful writer, and a devoted friend. His creative, sophisticated and witty personality allowed him to seamlessly integrate his work and play. He lived to the fullest, enriching the lives of those around him.
Jamie was born on June 6, 1990 to David Greenberg and Elizabeth Erickson of Colrain, Mass., joining his sister, Julie Eden Greenberg Erickson, in their family. He attended the Greenfield Center School and then Mohawk Trail Regional High School in Shelburne Falls. Both schools cultivated his unique curiosity and focused understanding of the world and encouraged his tendency to challenge conventional thinking.
Early on Jamie developed a passion for soccer. He played in local and statewide leagues throughout elementary and high school. He was co-captain of the Mohawk High School soccer team, helping to take his team to league finals for the first time in many years.
Jamie excelled as a student at Mohawk, inspired by literature and humanities classes. He was introduced to philosophy through such authors as Camus, Sartre, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Jamie and one of his teachers started a philosophy "salon" which met at a cafe in Shelburne Falls on a regular basis.
Excited to continue his studies in philosophy and other subjects, Jamie attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., which quickly became his second home. At Vassar, he built lasting friendships and pursued his academic interests not only in philosophy, but also in the Russian language, creative writing, logic and cognitive science. His dedication to both his academic work and his friends was marked by passion, honesty and enjoyment.
While at Vassar, Jamie became a campus representative for Apple Inc. This expanded his technological expertise, saving his friends and colleagues hours of frustration and turning the tables on his father, a technology professional, who began calling Jamie for computer consultations.
Jamie's academic interests led him to travel widely. In 2010, he was awarded the Ann Cornelisen Fellowship which allowed him to attend a summer program through Yale University in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he studied Russian language, history and culture while living with a Russian family.
Later, Jamie spent the winter of his junior year at Oxford University in England where he immersed himself in studying the philosophy of language. During his semester break in March and April of 2011, he traveled throughout Europe and the British Isles, visiting high school and college friends in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Greece and Scotland and vacationing with his parents in Devonshire, England, and Southern Wales.
In June of 2011, just as he was completing his second term at Oxford, Jamie was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. After six months of treatment in Western Mass, he returned to Vassar healthy and glad to be back. In just one semester he wrote a brilliant senior thesis in which he challenged the use of "cancellability tests" in the ongoing debate over whether sentences have fixed meanings. For this exceptional work, he received the Philosophy Department's Philip Nochlin Prize.
Jamie graduated with his class in May 2012, earning general and departmental honors in Philosophy. He was elected to Vassar's chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and was one of 20 students nationwide to be awarded the prestigious Beinecke Fellowship for graduate study. During his last semester of college, Jamie lived with four of his best friends, and fell into a loving relationship with Fiona Koch, a close friend of several years.
After graduation, Jamie accepted a job at Gorkana, a Manhattan-based media services firm, and moved into an apartment in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., with his good friend, Jack Smart, near Fiona and other close friends. Jamie was quickly promoted during his short tenure at Gorkana. He devised innovations in workplace efficiency, contributed research and finesse in communicating with leading U.S. media outlets, and demonstrated strong team leadership skills.
Jamie also took advantage of Brooklyn's endless opportunities for adventure and exploration, whether it was exploring new eateries and bars, visiting museums, or searching the curbs for free apartment furnishings. He had a passion for many aspects of life. An adventurous connoisseur of fine foods, he enjoyed both trying unusual restaurant entrees and inventing his own special concoctions to expand his palate. Luckily, Fiona shared his love of food exploration, and they enjoyed thinking up fun dishes to prepare.
Jamie listened to a diverse and ever-changing music collection. He had a particular fondness for Bach's Goldberg Variations, a challenging collection of piano music, which his close friend Will Healy specifically learned to play as a gift to Jamie on his 22nd birthday. Jamie was also a musician at times, playing trumpet as a child and electric bass in high school. Having grown up in the hills of rural Western Massachusetts, Jamie loved to spend time outdoors, whether hiking and identifying trees with his sister or lying in the shade with friends in Prospect Park.
Toward the end of 2012, Jamie worked with great determination to submit applications to 15 top doctoral programs in philosophy. When these were complete, he took some time off from Gorkana and traveled with Fiona and her family to Muscat, Oman, for a very special New Year's vacation. There he played tennis with Fiona's parents, explored the coastal mountains, beaches and bazaars, and developed a taste for the local hummus and cardamom coffee.
It was in Oman that Jamie noticed the return of leukemia symptoms. Even during his short illness, from January through March, Jamie continued to plan for his academic future, researching and contacting PhD programs. He was offered admission into seven prestigious graduate school programs and planned to begin his PhD in the fall of 2013.
Jamie's brilliant mind and devotion to learning were an inspiration to many. He is fondly remembered for his loving personality, his playful humor, his unique approach to the world, and his intellectual pursuit of philosophical questions.
Jamie is survived by his beloved girlfriend, Fiona Koch of Zürich, Switzerland; his sister Julie Erickson of Northampton, and his parents, David Greenberg and Elizabeth Erickson of Colrain. He also leaves his grandmothers, Elinor Erickson of Haverford, PA, and Alice Greene of Huntington, NY, along with an aunt, an uncle, three cousins, and countless friends who love him dearly.
There will be a celebration of Jamie's life at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., the weekend of June 1 and 2, 2013. On Saturday, June 1 at 7:30 p.m., Jamie's dear friend William Healy will perform all 30 Goldberg Variations at Skinner Hall. On Sunday, June 2, at noon there will be a celebration of Jamie's life in the college chapel.
There will also be a local celebration at the Potholes in Shelburne Falls on June 30. All are welcome to come and share stories about Jamie. Information regarding these events can be found at jamiengreenberg.wordpress.com.
A scholarship fund in Jamie's name has been set up to support future students of philosophy at Vassar College. Donations may be made to the "Jamie Nisse Greenberg Scholarship Fund" and mailed to either 227 West Leyden Road, Colrain, MA 01340 or Franklin First Federal Credit Union, 57 Newton St., Greenfield, MA 01301. Donations can also be made online at: jamiengreenberg.wordpress.com.