Island son James Barrie Gaskill: 1943-2017

The island was saddened to learn of the death of island son James Barrie Gaskill, 74 on June 21.

Born in Carteret County on April 20, 1943, he was a son of the late Daisy Styron Gaskill and James Lumley Gaskill, Jr.

James Barrie, as he was known, is survived by his wife, Ellen Gaskill; two children, Candy and Morton Gaskill; sister-in-law, Linda Gaskill all of Ocracoke; and a nephew, Joseph Gaskill and wife Stephanie of St. Mary’s, Ga. Along with his parents, he was preceded in death by a brother, Joseph W. Gaskill.

After graduating from the College of the Albemarle, James Barrie received his bachelor’s degree from East Carolina University. He was a teacher at Ocracoke School and later became its principal.

A commercial fisherman on the Pamlico Sound, he also served as a board member for the North Carolina Coastal Federation and the Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Association. In 2013, James Barrie and Gene Ballance shared the NCCF Pelican Award for leadership in restoring coastal habitat.

N.C. State linguistics professor Walt Wolfram, who visits Ocracoke every year and is the authority on the Ocracoke brogue, posted on his Facebook page:  “I knew James Barrie for 26 years, and he was, in all honesty, one of the most intriguing and best people I have EVER known. Brilliant, personable, engaging and generous. He could tell a story and charm anyone. My soul is grieving–but blessed to have known this very special person.”

Up until last summer, locals and visitors could get fresh shrimp and clams at James Barrie’s “Fat Boys Seafood,” from his truck that was parked in the afternoons beside Albert Styron’s Store and last year on Tom Payne’s front yard.

James Barrie picks shrimp from his cooler while his son Morty stands in the truck bed, and one of many satisfied customers. Photo courtesy of Philip Howard

As Philip Howard recounts in his online “Island Journal” blog: “James Barrie Gaskill, or his wife Ellen, is usually there to serve you, and to offer tips about how to prepare your meal. You might even get James Barrie to tell you the story of the Coast Guardsman who thought he’d arrived at the end of the world when he was stationed on the coast of North Carolina.”

If James Barrie was there, you would have a chance to hear the famous Ocracoke “Hoi Toide” brogue.

He and other island natives are featured in a continuously running video in the Ocracoke Preservation Society museum depicting the brogue.

In this video, you will also hear James Barrie and Rex O’Neal tell the hilarious story about when they carried fresh Ocracoke oysters on a plane to Las Vegas.

In another of Howard’s blog posts:

“About 50 years ago Sam Jones built a “small” house (smaller than the “Castle” which sits across the street) on Silver Lake harbor. Like his other buildings on Ocracoke, the Whittler’s Club, as it was called, was covered in cedar shakes. Sam’s vision was that it would become the gathering place for island men, a place where they could sit on the porch, swap stories, and whittle birds to sell to island visitors.

“I came across a ‘membership card’ for the Whittler’s Club. It was donated by James Barrie Gaskill to the Ocracoke Preservation Society. Sam, of course, had them printed, but I had never seen one. I was particularly amused by the ‘Rules and Restrictions’ printed on the back of the red card.

“The four rules, in reverse order, are:
      4. The preachers of the Methodist Church and the Church of God will pass on all cases of misconduct.
      3. All true story instances are always invited.
      2. The only way a member can lose his membership is by telling smutty jokes.
      1. No one allowed to get drunk except Harry O’Neal.”

Howard’s blog can be viewed here.