1936-2023 James Hinchon Manahan, 86, died on April 18, 2023 in Miami, Florida with his dearly loved wife Cristina Manahan at his side, after a courageous battle with metastatic prostate cancer. He was a lawyer, a teacher, a writer, and an accomplished pianist.

Jim was born in Madelia, Minnesota on August 27, 1936, the son of Cecil and Ruth (Hinchon) Manahan. He graduated from Harvard College (’58) and Harvard Law School (’61), following the career of his father, Cecil. He practiced law in Mankato, Minnesota from 1961 to 2007 and in Silver Bay, Minnesota from 2011 until moving to Miami, Florida in 2020.

Jim was active in many legal organizations, including serving as Chair of the Bar Association’s Criminal Law Section and Human Rights Committee, President of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (Minnesota Chapter), Dean of the Academy of Certified Trial Lawyers of Minnesota, President of the Sixth District Bar Association, and President of the Harvard Law School Association of Minnesota. He served on the Executive Council of the ABA’s Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities for many years. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the Board of Governors of the Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association. The Minnesota Supreme Court appointed him to its Judicial Selection Commission, and to the Lawyers Trust Account Board.

He was President of both Common Cause-Minnesota and American Civil Liberties Union-Minnesota. He was named one of the “Top 10 Minnesota Attorneys of 2001” by Minnesota Lawyer newspaper, and has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America since 1993. For 25 years he was Board Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy as both a civil and a criminal trial specialist, one of only 20 lawyers in America to have both certifications. He was a parttime public defender for 20 years in Mankato. He was an Early Neutral Evaluator in family court cases and a Qualified Mediator since 2009. After moving to the North Shore of Minnesota he was the Victim Witness Coordinator for the Lake County Attorney’s office in Two Harbors.

He was also active in many community organizations, serving as President of the Mankato Kiwanis Club and Lieutenant Governor of Kiwanis International. He was President of the Mankato Area League of Women Voters, and Secretary of the Mankato Police Civil Service Commission for many years. He was a volunteer Spanish interpreter at the Open Door Health Care Center, and served as Secretary of the North Central Conference of Latin Americanists (20052007). Jim was choir director at SS. Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Mankato, and helped found the Minnesota Valley Chorale. He was active in the Republican Party in his youth, and later in the DFL Party; he served as Vice Chair of the Lake County DFL.

Besides his Harvard degrees, Jim also earned a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Spanish from Minnesota State University, Mankato. He then taught law (in Spanish) with several Fulbright grants in Chile, Argentina, and Costa Rica. The World Bank sent him to Argentina in 2004 as a consultant on judicial reform, and he spoke at an international conference on criminal justice in Cuba in 2005. He served as an international human rights observer at the trial of President Alberto Fujimori in Lima, Peru, in 2008, on behalf of the Praxis Center for Social Justice and the International Senior Lawyers Project.

Jim was also a life-long teacher. He was adjunct professor at Mankato State University from 1970 to 1982, teaching law enforcement and mass communications law. He was adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School and Hamline University School of Law, teaching legal writing and trial skills. He also taught oral trial skills at law schools in Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, and Mexico. He was a Founding Professor of the Summer School on Contemporary Penal Topics at the University of Havana. He taught high school English in Santiago, Chile, during 2007.

His other passion was writing, since he was a son of Ruth Manahan, editor of the Madelia Times Messenger. In addition to writing editorials for his mother’s newspaper, he was the News Editor of the American Bar Association’s Human Rights magazine from 1976 to 1992, and News Editor of the Ripon Forum for many years. He wrote a regular column for the Two Harbors News-Chronicle entitled “Legal Learning for Lake County”, and some of his columns were published in book form in 2014 (North Shore Nuggets: Stories of Life, Love, and the Law on Lake Superior, https://a.co/d/cdj3nzC). He continued writing the bi-weekly “Legal Learning” newspaper columns until his death, commenting on current legal issues in Minnesota and the U.S., to keep his mind sharp.

Although not interested in sports in his youth, as an adult Jim enjoyed playing tennis, until he broke his hip falling on the hard court while racing for a ball. He loved alpine skiing and traveled to many ski resorts around the country to enjoy that pastime, often with his children and their families. And, at the annual Manahan family reunions across the United States, Jim adored volleyball and frequently would try to get another volleyball game going.

Jim is survived by his loving wife of 15 years, Cristina Manahan, as well as his step-daughters Sara, Claudia, and Carmen. He also is survived by his children Ted and his wife Chuchang Chiu of Fort Collins, Colorado; Corinne and her husband Jeremy Hitt of Amherst, New Hampshire; Matt and his wife Ann Trask of Cumberland, Maine; and Anne and her husband Paul Diotalevi of Middleboro, Massachusetts; his grandchildren Clifton, Craig, Nicki, Keagan, Emily, and Jimmy; his great-grandchildren Morris, Maddy, and Henry; and his siblings Pat, Bill, and Nancy and her wife Becky Bohan.

He was predeceased by his sister Margaret and her husband Gerry Gert, and his siblings-in-law Steve Anderson and Diane Manahan.

Jim will be missed by all who knew him. At his request, there will be no memorial service.