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JAMES J. CARSON JR.: Workstation to Playstation

 

James Carson spent much of the day, and often much of the evening, working with computers on the 103rd floor of the World Trade Center. When he finally did get home, he immediately headed for a different kind of computer: his Sony Playstation.

"That was how he would wind down," said his wife, Debbie Carson. She recalled that Mr. Carson, 32, would come home to Massapequa, N.Y., and relax by playing football video games in the basement. He took the games so seriously that he kept statistics on the virtual players, she said Ð just like the stats he kept on favorite real-life players.

"I'm not even allowed in the basement," said Mrs. Carson, who is six months pregnant with their first child. "That was his playroom."

His office was something of a playroom, too. Mr. Carson, who had worked as a computer network administrator at Cantor Fitzgerald for just over six weeks on Sept. 11, was thrilled to be so close to the heart of the world of finance. "He always ranted and raved about his view and the work he was doing," Mrs. Carson said.

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From "Profiles in Grief" of The New York Times