James “Hobo Jim” Varsos was born in 1952 in Lafayette, Indiana, and spent his younger years in  Madison, Wisconsin. At 17, he hit the road, hitchhiking throughout most of North America before making his way to Alaska at 20 years old, where he would find his forever home. While sharing his passion for music as a street performer and bar room singer, he also held many different jobs all across the Last Frontier. He worked as a deckhand, a cannery worker, a logger, a ranch hand & a cowboy. He rodeoed, hunted, fished, and guided, all while writing & performing music inspired by his one-of-a-kind experiences as only he could see them. It wasn’t until the early 80’s that he genuinely began making a living as a musician. When he met the love of his life and future wife Cyndi in 1979, she had no idea of his gifts as a musician and storyteller, keeping his guitar stashed under his bed while living and working as a ranchhand in Anchor Point, Alaska.

Hobo Jim often said, “He had never met a stranger.” He valued everyone he met as a friend and, in turn, every friend as part of his family. He possessed an uncanny ability to remember those who spoke to him.

Jim was a voracious reader of non-fiction literature, having read tens of thousands of books in his lifetime. His reading interests focused on historical, biographical & educational topics. His personal library contained well over 4000 books containing a vast array of subjects, from archaeology, anthropology, geology, genealogy, criminology, history of cultures and religion, foods & cooking, architecture, plants and horticulture, art & artifacts, and anything to do with hunting tracking, fishing and anything or anyone he took an interest or gained inspiration. These interests inspired a museum-quality collection of art, artifacts & collectible items in his own home, many of which he loved to gift to the many people he met throughout his life. 

Jim appeared to have an eidetic memory as he retained and remembered nearly everything he read. The ability also presented with the lyrics & music he would remember & play beyond his own writings. In the early 1990s, Jim faced the challenge of playing a marathon show without repeating himself. A challenge that he gladly accepted. The historical performance occurred at the Moosehead saloon in Palmer, Alaska. He played for 18 consecutive hours, quitting only when his fingers finally “wore out,” leaving much more in the catalog of songs he retained in his head. He also jokingly added that he had to use the “boy’s room.” He once explained that he could accomplish such a feat by alphabetically picking a topic (animals, mining, trains, fishing, etc.) and playing every song he knew in that subject. As confirmed by an independent record keeper, he played over 450 songs that day, never repeating a single one. Jim estimated that he could recall the words & music of what he believed to be about 4000 songs. 

Jim recorded and released only a tiny portion of his songs. Most of what he released were songs about Alaska, the land he loved. He worked as a staff songwriter in Nashville for many years in the 90s (during his off-season in Alaska). He had to write & submit 5-6 songs per day, offering the works as rough copies referred to as work tapes. Occasionally, a piece would be chosen to have potential as a “hit” by Nashville standards, but sadly most of them were thrown out. His wife Cyndi occasionally rescued a small portion from the “trash.” Those were songs which she thought were beautiful & in which she believed.

Jim attended Union College in Kentucky for a short time after leaving home as a teenager. His attendance during that time only lasted for about a semester. However, many of those school days would be skipped due to his wandering ways as he would hitchhike off on some calling or another. He truly lived off of the tips he received from street singing while honing his ability to entertain as he went. He always longed to achieve a formal education & greatly regretted not continuing formally, although he was educated far beyond most college graduates. Jim deservedly & proudly received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks campus, in the spring of 2018, granting him the official title of Dr. James Varsos. Those closest to him would lovingly refer to him as Dr. Hobo. In 1994 the State of Alaska named him “Alaska’s State Balladeer.” These honors he would consider to be two of his most significant accomplishments. 

Jim would always say meeting & marrying Cyndi, his wife of 41 years, was by far his greatest accomplishment. They met in Homer, Alaska, in October of 1979, and Jim always said, “It was love at first sight.” Cyndi had come to Homer to help her sister move back to California, not intending to meet the man who would sweep her off her feet & win her heart forever. Jim eventually went to California to ask her father’s permission for her hand in marriage, which he gave. They were married in Homer, Alaska, on May 1st of, 1980, so their adventure began. Cyndi helped & supported Jim every step of the way from then on. Their only son, Shaun, was born in January of 1985, bringing their lives the most incredible joy they would have together. Sadly Shaun lost his life in April of 2021, this being the worst pain they would experience in their lives together.

One of Jim’s many interests was his family history. Until he submitted a DNA sample for genetic analysis, he believed he was 50% Greek on his father’s side and 50% Scottish on his mother’s side, announcing his Greek heritage proudly & quietly whispering of his Scottish heritage. Upon researching his DNA results, he found that quite a few other nationalities were in his background. However, Greek & Scott comprised the more significant part of his makeup. As Jim continued to research his ancestry, he was pleased to find he hailed from many people of historical fame & notoriety on his mother’s side, including kings and queens as well as other famous & infamous people. He was able to follow her side of the family history many hundreds of years into the past. Although still very proud of his father’s Greek heritage, it did not share the same prominence as his mother’s; it would seem. After Jim exhausted his own ancestry, he insisted on doing the same for Cyndi. When it was her turn, he would find that her ancestry was more interesting to him than his own, as much of her family history had significant importance in the United States. He had planned on traveling to certain places & further researching some of the historical interests & locations involved with her ancestry in recent years.

Jim had a large fan base in Germany & Japan. Because of this, he learned to speak German & Japanese with fluency. He performed in several countries. The largest crowd he ever played for was in Australia, where he played for a packed stadium of over 50,000 people on two separate occasions. 

He toured with many famous people in his early career, including Reba McIntyre, Russell Smith, the Dawn Patrol, and many more. Jim also had many of his songs recorded by many world-famous artists. Some were released & others are still unreleased to this day. George Jones, Etta James, Leroy Parnell, Sammy Kershaw, Randy Travis, T. Graham Brown, Kenny Chesney, Joni Harms, Ken Peltier, and many more occupy this great list. Jim also had the privilege of performing on the Grand Ole Opry Stage & being highlighted in Country Music Magazine in the mid-1990s.

Hobo Jim inspired so many people. His passion for passing music & knowledge on to any generation was great. Still, he never passed on the opportunity to share this gift with children. He loved to include them in his performances & encouraged them to sing & play any instrument that interested them. Jim himself played many stringed instruments besides acoustic guitar, including autoharp, banjo, dulcimer, mandolin, 12-string, electric & bass guitars. He would also fool around with harmonicas, pianos, concertina & similar instruments. Jim loved discovering and utilizing new sounds with nearly ancient musical instruments. Given the opportunity to play them, he had an uncanny gift of finding the music in them and bringing it out. He always gave a huge smile & little chuckle when he could do this. 

He truly loved Alaska & the people that lived here. I hope his legacy will live on in both his music & his memory. He indeed was a legend that Alaska made!