Melvin James, hailed as a pioneer and trendsetter in the thoroughbred industry, and who trained the future Triple Crown winner Affirmed at Ocala’s Harbor View Farm, passed away on Oct. 6 at the age of 80.
James was remembered as a quiet and patient man, a husband and father of two daughters, and someone who liked to tinker with his car and truck.
“My father didn’t speak much but he meant what he said,” his daughter Carol James said, adding that he was “a man of faith in God” and “he was always helping somebody.”…