James Russell “JR” Guthrie, former PGN editor, died Dec. 20. He was 68.
Guthrie, a George Washington University graduate, had a passion for trains and railroads, which sometimes snuck its way into PGN. Occasionally, Guthrie would find ways to insert photos of trains into the publication.
“He used to drive Mark [Segal, PGN publisher] nuts sneaking pictures of trains [into the paper],” said Jim Sigel, a long-time friend of Guthrie. “He was insane over trains.”
Sigel said Guthrie was working on a book on the history of anthracite railroads prior to his passing. Guthrie was active in the Anthracite Heritage Museum, the Lackawanna Historical Society, the Long Island Sunrise Trail Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, the New Jersey Midland Railway Historical Society and the New York Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society.
He also held positions in radio, print journalism and information technology. In the latter field, Sigel said Guthrie was entirely self-taught. He would read books about computers and wrote his own programs based entirely on the knowledge he gained.
“Once you got past the rough exterior, he was an amazing, awesome person,” Sigel said about Guthrie. “I know I’m going to miss him.”
Guthrie is survived by his companion of 36 years, Albert Guthrie, and sisters Patrica Guthrie and the Rev. Suzanne Guthrie.
He was active in the Episcopal Church all of his life and was most recently a member of Scranton’s St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, where the Rev. Rebecca Barnes presided over his Dec. 28 memorial service. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Civil Liberties Union, to which Guthrie belonged.