The Age: Cycle victim thought paradise was a trip on a cargo ship - 31 August, 2006

Friend and fellow cargo ship adventurer Ivan Lomasney hopes to scatter Mr Gould’s ashes at sea. There will be no funeral for James Gould. The 77-year-old, who died after he was hit by a Hell Ride cyclist in Mentone on Saturday, didn’t want one. But his closest friend Ivan Lomasney, 75, is hatching a plan to commemorate Mr Gould’s life and his love of travelling and the sea.

“It’s interesting because he used to say when I die, just cremate me and get rid of the ashes. I don’t want a funeral where everybody waffles on about me because I know what I’m like — and none of it would be the truth,” Mr Lomasney said from his home in Canberra yesterday.

Mr Gould was born in Egypt, lived in China and India as the only child of a British Army officer, and emigrated to Australia about 40 years ago. He spent time in Darwin and Mount Isa, worked on the railways, and eventually settled in Melbourne, taking a job as an auditor for a city firm. Mr Gould’s greatest love, and only hobby, was travelling the world in cargo ships. Mr Lomasney shared his passion and so, when he departs for their planned trip to Britain and North America next year, he hopes to take his friend’s ashes with him.

“We’ll be going via New Zealand so a suggestion I’ve come up with is to take his ashes to his favourite port, Port Chalmers in Dunedin, and convince the captain to have a little bit of a service on the ship,” he said. It seems fitting. Perhaps they could also play the theme tune from Underneath the Arches, Mr Gould’s favourite musical. Earlier this year, Mr Gould spoke about his obsession with cargo ships in The Sydney Morning Herald. “I’ll put it bluntly — if I won a ticket to go on the Queen Mary, I would give it away,” he said.

“The main part (of cargo travel) is being away from everything, it’s a complete world of its own. You’re not hassled with people.” Mr Lomasney, whose name was one of two stored in Mr Gould’s mobile phone, said his friend was a “happy little character” who would talk to anyone. “Our goal on our (cargo ship) trips was to win over every member of the crew so they eventually asked us to have a drink with them,” he said.

“My wife summed it up well on Saturday when we found out. She said one word describes James and that’s ‘gentleman’.” Neighbour Richard Sherburn said Mr Gould was a cheerful, meticulous man who planned his overseas trips well in advance. “We just knew him as a genuine sort of fella — he loved living near the beach and he loved living in Mentone,” Mr Sherburn said.

Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said Mr Gould was an energetic man who went for a walk along the beach every morning. The residents in his block of units were very close and looked after each other, she said.