How can that be? But that was his task."Glover said Valentine focused on joy and "the foibles of humanity" in his radio program rather than the grim news cycle.Valentine was a jazz lover and talented saxophonist who performed concerts throughout his life."What he did really was to bring the spirit of jazz improvisation to talkback radio," Glover said.Friend and former editor of The Australian Women's Weekly, Deborah Thomas, first met Valentine 40 years ago at a cocktail party in Carlton, Melbourne.At the time, Valentine was preparing to move to Sydney to join rock band Models."I just remember meeting him and thinking he was the most charming, charismatic [and] elegant [man]," she said."I know that is a funny word for James, but there he was in his retro white tuxedo jacket serving martinis and so on In fact, I'd have to say, annoyingly, he was the most mature one in the band," fellow bandmate Roger Mason added.Former 702 ABC Sydney presenter Simon Marnie said he was grateful for how Valentine took his listeners on the journey of his illness."He had full control over it right up until yesterday afternoon, when he determined that he would take his own life, and that was James right through," he said.Marnie first met Valentine in the offices of triple j in the early 1980s."That was a relationship that just blossomed and grew," he said, adding that Valentine was "incredibly generous" to those he respected.ABC chair Kim Williams told 702 ABC Mornings that Valentine was a "creative polymath".Valentine was an "indelible" part of the ABC and its audio memory, Williams said.