John Jeffrey ‘Jay’ Bright passed away peacefully in March, 2025, after a few years of declining health. Jay, 69, was born on April 22, 1956, in Connecticut. Jay moved to the Camden area in 1970 where he lived a bit in Camden and a bit in Rockport before living with the Wootton family in Lincolnville during his senior year.

Before moving to Maine, Jay lived in Glens Fall, New York. In New York, Jay won the Punt, Pass and Kick contest in 5th grade. He was extremely disappointed to learn from Stuart Young during his first days at Camden-Rockport High School that there was no football team. Jay had to settle for basketball and golf as his high school sports.

Jay was outstanding at both of his high school sports. He was a member of the 1974 C-RHS state champion basketball team and was the number 1 golfer on the high school team his senior year. Although Jay was unable to attend the recent celebration of the 50th anniversary of that state title, the team was thrilled that Jay made it to Maine a few summers ago to attend a team reunion.

During high school, Jay could be seen working hard with a few local dignitaries. He split wood and did construction work for Sonny Goodwin. He fried clams and listened to countless bad jokes while working at Ayer’s Market for Aubrey Young. Jay also proved to be an able sailor, when he worked for Captain Orville Young on the Roseway.

After high school, Jay attended Bates College where he played on the basketball team for 4 years. During college Jay spent a summer with Rob Connell working on a survey crew in the mountains with Rob Connell. Tall Jay and short Rob were often seen at the local disco club wearing their colorful shirts and massive bell bottoms.

Jay married Bunny McClave in North Conway, New Hampshire in 1982. Jay and Bunny had two daughters, Riley and Madison. Riley has one son, Luka, who is the young lad in the photo with Jay. Jay often sent his friends pictures of his grandson. His daughter Madison got married early this year just before Jay passed away. Jay is also survived by three of his brothers, Matt, Gus, and Ken.

Jay graduated from Bates in 1978 with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. After working for a few years, Jay graduated from Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University, in 1987, with a degree in International Law and Finance.

Jay had an impressive professional career while living in the Boulder, Colorado area. His roles included managing international marketing campaigns for numerous companies before wrapping up his career running his own consulting company, Bright Consulting. Jay is also rumored to have helped Robin Williams in his role as Mork due to Jay’s extensive knowledge of outer space.

Jay’s friends in the Camden area tried to move him back to Maine a few years ago, but the details could not be worked out.

There will be a celebration of Jay’s life on September 20. We hope to see some familiar faces at the Snow Bowl that day as we share stories about Jay that don’t seem appropriate in an obituary.