James (Jim) Thomas McGinn

February 19, 1932 – September 25, 2025

Jim McGinn, a 57-year resident of Pacific Palisades, died at the age of 93 after several years of failing health. He passed away painlessly, surrounded by family.

Born in Evanston, Illinois, to John T. and Mary (Kidney) McGinn, Jim grew up in Park Ridge, a suburb of Chicago. After graduating from Maine Township High School, he received a Navy scholarship which covered his years at the University of Wisconsin and Northwestern University. He graduated with a BFA degree in film & television and entered the U.S. Navy where he served three years as an officer. The young, wide-eyed voyager sailed the Mediterranean, beginning a life-long interest in international travel.

After finishing his Navy stint, Jim returned to Northwestern for an MFA degree, while also starting his long career as a producer and writer in film, TV and theater. His first series, “The Storyteller,” aired on WGN-TV in Chicago where he met his future wife, Patricia McMurtry. (Patty was always his special name for her.) They were married on April 4, 1959.

While creating several new television shows in the early 1960s, he landed a job as a development executive at Young & Rubicam Advertising Agency in New York City. This presented him with the opportunity to move to Los Angeles with his family in 1967. It fulfilled a dream he had since visiting California as a teenager. He and Patty purchased their home in Pacific Palisades where they lived for 57 years.

Jim began working for Bristol-Myers Squibb in 1969. He was hired to supervise television and film projects sponsored by Bristol-Myers and Clairol. He rented an office above The House of Lee (now Pearl Dragon) and always enjoyed his 10-minute commute “walk” from his nearby home.

Jim and Patty became avid tennis players and were members of Riviera Tennis Club for many years. They were also devoted parishioners of Corpus Christi Church. Jim wrote several scripts for “Insight,” a Paulist Productions series that aired on network TV from 1960 to 1984.

After retiring in 1994, he and Patty traveled extensively, sparking a wanderlust for travel in all three of their children. In his later years, Jim joined a playwriting group and mounted several original plays while also teaching Intro to Screenwriting at USC. He retired in 2018 at the age of 86.

Besides tennis, Jim loved to ride his bike. He was often seen riding down Temescal to the beach and back, always dressed in his blue track suit. He loved living in Pacific Palisades and always spoke about how fortunate he was to have raised his family here. Tragically, their home on Toyopa Drive was lost in the Palisades fire on January 7 of this year.

Jim McGinn will be remembered as a person who impacted so many with his generosity, kindness and twinkly blue eyes. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Patricia, his daughter, Shannon, two sons, J. Michael and Sean (Janie), and his beloved grandchildren, Laney (15) and Perrish McGinn (12).

There will be a Celebration of Life in the coming months for family and friends.