Jim Knipfel

James (Jim) Knipfel, 61, died on October 7, 2026 after a year-long battle with cancer.

Jim was born to George and Janice Knipfel in Grand Forks, North Dakota at the Air Force Base on June 2, 1965. The family relocated to Green Bay, WI in 1968, where he enjoyed an idyllic midwestern small town childhood amid a close-knit and loving family. It was also learned early on that he had retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease that left him blind by the time he was 35. People made a big deal about this, but since he considered blindness an annoyance and little more, we’ll leave it at that.

After graduating from Green Bay East in 1983 he enrolled at the University of Chicago to study physics. Quickly learning he wasn't very good at physics, he switched majors and then transferred to UW-Madison and graduated with a degree in philosophy. Then it was off to graduate school at the University of Minnesota.

In 1987 Jim moved to Philadelphia. Although he’d never harbored any dreams of becoming a writer, under the tutelage of editor Derek Davis he began writing a weekly column, “Slackjaw,” for an alternative paper, The Welcomat. The column quickly cemented his writing reputation. “Slackjaw” would appear weekly in one publication or another for the next forty years. It can presently be found on Patreon, though likely won’t be updated anytime soon.

In 1990 Jim moved to Brooklyn, where he would live for the next thirty years. He became a staff writer at NY Press, and began a long association with the enigmatic San Francisco-based avant pop band, The Residents.

Much activity ensued.

Always reluctant to toot his own petard while alive, now that I’m gone, all bets are off. I published fifteen books, one of which was turned into a 2024 feature film “Noogie’s Time to Shine.” I was in a couple of movies and narrated a few others. My articles appeared in dozens of publications including the Wall Street Journal, NY Daily News, Village Voice, Film Quarterly and The Believer, winning a few awards here and there along the way. I had the rare opportunity to befriend and collaborate with some of the writers and musicians I most admired. Morley Safer interviewed me for a 60 Minutes segment, Novelist Thomas Pynchon blurbed two of my books. “Blearly Mufflehead,” my children’s story, was recorded and serialized for “Double Dip Recess,” a Saturday morning kid’s radio show. For some godforsaken reason a handful of obscure bands even felt compelled to write songs about me. And weaving through it all were endless madcap adventures large and small.

Jim returned to Green Bay in 2021, where his immediate family remained close-knit and loving, and he had a chance to reconnect with a few old pals. He never liked gardening, playing cards or fishing, and his “bright smile” was neither “contagious” nor did it ever “light up the room.” Despite those deliberating character flaws, looking back he summed it up this way: A thousand regrets, failures, mistakes, traumas, tragedies, bad decisions and humiliations, but no complaints. All those things were an essential part of the insane and tumultuous ride that made Jim what he was and it sure was an interesting ride while it lasted.

Jim is survived by his mother Janice Knipfel, his sister Mary Adrians, his nieces McKenzie Dawson (Marcellus), Jordan Wunderlich (Jon), two great nephews, Trey Dawson and Landon Wunderlich, two great nieces, Harper Dawson and Leighton Wunderlich. Dear friend, Gary Farrell, Aunts Maxine Hurd (Portland, OR), Charlene Snyder (Azusa, CA), Janet Holcomb (Minneapolis, MN) many supportive couisins and loads of close and dear friends across the country. Too many scoundrels, ne’er-do- wells and geniuses to name here, but they know who they are.

Preceding Jim in death was his father, George Knipfel and brother-in-law, Bob Adrians.

There will be a private family service per Jim’s request.