August 1, 2006
Boston's Most Eligible Bachelor (?)
One of the delights of being married (aside from companionship, tax benefits, etc.) is to hear about all the details and silliness of the dating game without suffering any emotional ups and downs. So it was that Bostonist was recently regaled by a friend with the tale of her date with one James Mitchell, a middle-aged gentleman who throws fabulous parties around town, and apparently fancies himself quite the catch (a notion with which our friend did not agree – she refers to him as "Frog Prince," owing to a particularly ungainly and unwanted kiss). We failed to comprehend fully just how much of a herb unique this Mr. Mitchell was, though, until our friend dug up from her e-mail the URL of his personal website. We urge all of our readers to peruse this site at length, because it is absolutely not to be believed – we were impressed that a man could list quite so many requirements for his would-be girlfriends without including anywhere on his multi-page website a single picture of himself. (Also, he offers for public edification an essay on how to draft a good personal ad, which advises strongly against typos, but contains at least three.)
Upon telling one of our Bostonist colleagues about this guy over lunch last week, we learned that she had received more than one e-mail invitation to his fancy parties, although she had never met him in person. She also directed our attention to a profile of him in last month's Boston Magazine, from which we learned that, although James Mitchell holds himself out as a successful corporate financier with higher degrees from Harvard and MIT, he is actually a complete fraud, having been booted from both institutions and making his living from a large inheritance. That same day, when we related this story to another friend, she informed us that she, too, had crossed paths with Mitchell: He had contacted her via Match.com about a year ago with several lengthy, slightly creepy e-mails, portions of which were actually cut and pasted from his website. (He also charmingly shared his opinion of our friend's home state: "I love Hawaii! My sense is that there was not much intellecualism [sic] on the Islands.")
So it appears that in addition to being a self-made, self-proclaimed, A-list party host and gadabout (as the Boston Magazine article makes clear), James Mitchell is also the most prolifically unsuccessful bachelor we have ever encountered, and seems to have hit on practically every single woman we know, almost always in a comically inartful way. In fact, a source reports that just last night he was alone at a local upscale bar, hitting on a woman who was waiting for her date. This makes us wonder: Dear readers, have any of you chanced to meet or be romanced by this man? Will anyone defend him, not in his capacity as toastmaster (a job he seems to do well), but in the role of Romeo?
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Wait a minute -- how do we know he is a good toastmaster? I want proof from someone who has attended one of his parties.
Ha ha ha. He went to Pitzer, the "Shaggy" of the Claremont Colleges. Sounds like a real winner to me.
This is a really lame post that reeks of revenge for a bad date. No one cares about this wanker or his parties.
Dear John,
Have you looked at this guy's website? If you think this guy sounds boring I highly recommend checking out his site. I challenge you to be bored reading it.
John -
Seriously, I don't have the time or inclination to avenge all the bad dates of all my friends. This guy is exceptional - he has the most absurdly pompous website ever, he's paunchy, not terribly handsome, and looks precisely as old as his 50 years (I should have mentioned that in the post - it's true, I've seen him), and he spends his time making embarassingly bad come-ons to much younger women both by e-mail and in person. He's ubiquitous on the Boston dating scene and he was written up in Boston Magazine, so obviously someone cares about this wanker and his parties.
This screams investigative follow-up. The word on the street is that some bostonists made the scene in Southie not too long ago--how about giving the Ritz a run (old, not new, of course)? Given Mr. Mitchell's apparent aversion to searching interviews and avowed dislike of lawyers, it would have to be undercover...
This screams investigative follow-up. The word on the street is that some bostonists made the scene in Southie not too long ago--how about giving the Ritz a run (old, not new, of course)? Given Mr. Mitchell's apparent aversion to searching interviews and avowed dislike of lawyers, it would have to be undercover...
C'mon... this is has got to be a hoax, right? I mean, someone this obtuse and gormless cannot possibly exist. I feel like a very large rift in the universe has opened up directly over Boston. Thanks for helping me lose the will to live.
On a side note, gormless is a spectacular word with which I was unacquainted until I read the previous comment. According to dictionary.com, it means, "Lacking intelligence and vitality; dull."
Sad but true- this lumpen troglodyte does indeed exist and has relentlessly pursued many women even after multiple blunt rejections. Luckily, his persistence is generally futile- the thought of him reproducing causes a shudder. In addition, his "manifesto" means nothing since a woman not meeting the criteria specified on his site does at all insulate her from his advances.
He's more gadfly than gadabout and about as far from a Romeo as a human being can get. But, men of Boston should be pleased that he skews the dating odds in their favor.
Yes Virginia, there is a James Mitchell. I have been sought out by him via several e-mail invites to his cocktail parties. I should feel so honored to have met his "criteria" listed in great detail on his website.
And I've also seen him in action since I was recently his waitress...an eerie situation at best. He loves leering at the ladies, indeed.
James does exist, his parties are a lot of fun to go to, lots of interesting people..but James is definitely different...a geek type, chubby and lacking in social skills weird when he has become such a fixture on the party scene in Boston..He hits on anything female that has looks and a brain but its very inept mostly and myself and my girlfriends find it all very amusing. On a legendary evening he "interviewed" us all in front of one another for the position of his girlfriend (aka sex slave)..read his girlfriend description on the website...without seeming to be in the least aware that none of us were in the least interested in being his girlfriend!.
yep, it's true. his emails become increasingly persistent over several weeks if you don't respond. i ignored the original simply because i was on an entended vacation and, upon my return to boston, was surprised to find a scary monologue in my inbox & answering machine. glad to know he's being outed.
Hey everybody, I am important! Kinda sad ehh.
Mr. Mitchell's "Match.com" profile states that he is only 41 and that he has never been married. Everyone can view his profile by his search name "james43981". What a complete fraud!
2 things scare me about this guy.
First, EVERY girl I know in Boston has described how he tried to hit on them and wouldn't take no for an answer.
he uses the parties simply as a means to find more girls to hit on. That is his only reason that I can see
secondly, his profound self delusion. Yes, his website would give any therapy conference enough material to fill several days, but he then spams you with so many emails as if YOU are at fault for not responding or turning up to his events
what I want to know is,
WHO is going to these events?? and WHY?
is it just a collection of losers?
The web of deceit James Mitchell has been spinning is finally catching up to him. The women of Boston will now be safer thanks to the Boston magazine exposé.
I first met James at a party at the Harvard Club. I noticed him across the room chatting up my girlfriend and came over to introduce myself to give him a subtle hint that she was with me and consequently not available. As he always does, he told us about his parties and asked for our email addresses. In the week after we met him, he bombarded my girlfriend witha series of emails about himself, a detailed description of his ideal girlfriend, and invitations to all sorts of parties. He somehow managed to get her unlisted home telephone number, and called her one morning at 8am. His reason for calling? To inquire whether she would date him on the side while she was with me. James continued to make unwanted advances towards her until I finally called him and demanded that he back off. He did.
A few weeks after my phone call to him, James showed up uninvited to a birthday party at the Four Seasons. He was shocked to see me there and my presence made him visibly uncomfortable. Nevertheless, at dinner he proceeded to ask out the birthday girl in front of all of her guests, which was awkward for everyone. I took the opportunity to ask him a few questions about the state of the private equity markets and concluded that he knew virtually nothing about them. When we left the Four Seasons after dinner, James drove off in a beaten up jalopy, which confirmed my suspicions that he was not the man of wealth and taste he would like everyone to believe.
Occasionally his name comes up in conversation. How could it not? It sometimes seems that he as at one time or another contacted every woman in Boston between the ages of 20-35. At parties I have attended (not his parties, mind you), when he does come up, several women in the room gasp in horror at the mention of his name and one by one disclose that they have in some way been pursued by him. It is eerie.
I am posting this anonymously because James is notoriously litigious as the Boston Magazine article makes clear.
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JM is the creepiest man I have ever come across. I am a 20 year old opera singer/model in my early twenties. I responded to a craig's list ad that I thought was a professional photo shoot... it turned out to be one of Mitchell's fronts. He started stalking me, calling up to ten times a day, leaving messages asking about my sexual history. He said he was a professional "model scout" and wanted me to come to his parties. I finally told him that he was an overweight, creepy loser, and shouldn't stalk young girls who would never be interested in a waste of space like him. When he still wouldn't leave me alone, my fiance picked up the phone and said we would call the police if he wouldn't leave me alone. This man is a pathetic freak. How sad is it that every woman in Boston has a memory of him... and not a good one. Stay away from him unless you need a good laugh and are intending on throwing things at his ugly, inflated head.
Oops, I didn't mean to list my age twice. I guess I was typing too fast and am worked up over this loser. I hope he ends up in jail. Bye! -Ashley from the previous post
I was spammed with unsolicited email invitations for James Mitchell's parties. I'm a (female) lawyer at a large firm, and I assumed that James pulled my email from my firm's website - meanwhile the party was cast as an exclusive event. I asked twice to be removed from the list, and when the direct requests didn't get me anywhere, I posted a blunt request in the comments section of an evite. The party emails were so ridiculous - silly affairs trying WAY too hard to be highbrow - that I googled James Mitchell and came across the expose article on him. The number of women he has pursued and the lies he tells are truly amazing - if he weren't so hilarious (and so creepy) I'd feel sorry for him.
JM is a creep yet honorable in some very tiny regards. He has helped me in exposing some information re: mutual friends that I would not have heard otherwise--yes he is a gossip but it was crucial information. The information turned out to be indeed true. Yes he also has solicited me continually since I have been involved in a long-term relationship, very much in love, and relentlessly, ignoring the fact that I am in the relationship. He ignores age of those persued, in other words the younger the better.
As a 23 year old female who has met James Mitchell I feel obligated to post. I was invited to one of his parties through a friend and we attended one Tuesday evening. He told me that he wanted to meet one on one to talk about myself and see if I should be included on his 'exclusive' list. As a new resident of Boston, I figured that it would be a good opportunity to network and find a good job. James spent the whole evening sucking down pina colotas and proclaiming that he was the 'social king of boston.' I found this hard to believe considering that the buttons on his food-covered shirt were holding on for dear life. At the end of the night he offered to walk me to my car, and it was at this point that I realized he was actually hitting on me.... A 50-something year old unkept man. Needless to say i sped off, tires screeching. Upon returning home I checked my e-mail to find that he had already sent me an message asking me out. I replied "dont you think I am a little young for you?"....His immediate responce was "I usually date girls your age"....gross. He finally left me alone after several pleading phone calls....social king of boston? I think not. Beware young Bostonian women!
As a side note- I was reminded of James today because he has spent the whole morning/afternoon eating at a nearby cafe. Apparently he came to an art opening in the area with a Martha-Stewart style ankle accessory and shorts (it was early march)....
Get out! More info on the ankle bracelet, please?! Thanks, guest!
The ankle bracelet was certinally a surprise....im not sure why he was wearing it but he made no effort to conceal it. He also had the balls to wear it to an establishment with which he was doing business.. needless to say that business transaction was I am also not sure if he is reading this right now, but i can see him from my desk on his computer. I am SURE he googles himself. He has been at the cafe for over 5 hours. pretty sure he doesnt have an office. thanks for responding and I am glad i am not the only one to have been accousted. ps- beware of his friend susan.
woops.. i didnt finish that sentence. i meant to say that the business transaction was terminated.
by the way it should be mentioned that james mitchell preys on underage girls as well. telling them all sorts of lies to try and get to them. he act doesn't work with adult women so he has resorted to children and currently this is being looked into.
This guy is amazing. I see on his "company" website that he's posted, under recruiting, a housekeeper position. Here's why he might be looking for one: According to the Waltham newspaper, he was charged with assaulting his housekeeper and her THREE year old son. She went to collect money he allegedly owed her, and he assaulted her, picked her kid up by the hood of his jacket, and slammed a car door on the poor little guy's leg -- SEVERAL times.
http://www.dailynewstribune.com/archive/x189252275
Class act, this guy.
Oh, and in 2006, the CEO of the big M&A company drove a Buick....with a rear door tied shut with rope... http://www.dailynewstribune.com/archive/x866183104