Jim Hornsby Moreno was a beloved friend, mentor, and father figure to many young poets and students. He was a Vietnam veteran, fierce social justice advocate, and peace activist. He was an organizer, a teacher, a counselor, a poet, a fellow traveler on the spiritual path, and a “man of many names,” as a friend of his described him. To many in the San Diego poetry community, he was known as “Jim Poet.”
I met Jim in the 1990s while employed at the San Diego American Indian Health Center. Though he was not Native, Jim related to me once that he resonated with Native American spirituality more than with any other spiritual tradition or religion and participated in ceremonies for many years with his adopted Chumash family. Over the years, I gradually came to know Jim through the poetry and Buddhist practice communities. Later, I took a couple of his poetry classes through San Diego Writers, Ink, where he often used poets, such as Langston Hughes and other contemporaries, to inspire social expression in students’ writing exercises.
Jim’s first book of poetry, Dancing in Dissent: Poetry for Activism, was published in 2007 and was co-edited by Joseph D. Milosch. His second publication was titled An Activists’ Poetry Anthology, Selected Poems for “Good Trouble.” It was also co-edited by D. Milosch and came out in 2022. Many who knew Jim experienced him as kind and compassionate. He taught poetry to adolescent youth in San Ysidro through the Arts Connection and the juvenile court and community schools. He organized and/or hosted at least three community gatherings of poets; I was mostly acquainted with the 2nd Sunday Jihmye Open Mic for Poets and Musicians’ group, held at the Space Bar Cafe in La Mesa, CA. These gatherings, often recorded, were lively and spirited. Jim also coordinated the San Diego/Tijuana ReEvolutionary Poets Brigade, and recently started the Veteran’s Poetry Group, which met online on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
In one Facebook post after he left this life, he was described as a “vital voice within the poetry community.” He had been suffering for several years from the effects of a Vietnam War chemical, Agent Orange. He “crossed over” at 13:58 on December 2, 2025. A spiritual ceremony was held on Saturday, December 13, 2025, for him. It was organized by members of his talking circle and other friends who mirrored his adopted Native American identity by burning his sacred possessions. Other community celebrations of Jim’s life were held the following day at the Southeast Alano Club, and later at the 2nd Sunday Jihmye Open Mic group. On January 6th at San Diego Writers, Ink in Point Loma, a tribute was held with teachers, former students, and colleagues sharing memories, poetry, and the impact that Jim had on their individual lives.
A Jim Hornsby Moreno Celebration Anthology is being planned by the Steve Survivor Writing group and calls for submissions of poems are being asked for to provide healing and connection for his community. The submission deadline ends on January 30, 2026. Anyone who has copies of Jim’s poems and would like to contribute them as well, please send them and all submissions to poetry4veterans@gmail.com. Up to two poems can be submitted and they need to be 40 lines or less.
