People of late have come to ask whatever happened to that rare type of individual once identified as a Renaissance man, people such as Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt whose talents bridged a wide spectrum and whose minds were eager to know about advancements in engineering, music, medicine and literature.

In New London, James Ruth might well have earned a “Renaissance R” to flaunt in the way a high school varsity athlete might proudly wear a varsity letter. Graduate of the University of Connecticut with a degree in political science and having lived in France for three years and also worked up and down the Eastern Seaboard, Ruth now resides permanently in New London where he operates a business created out of his own self-made designs.

After a number of other business ventures, Ruth hit his stride in the early 2000s with Amerigreen, a contracting company specializing in environmentally friendly materials and procedures which he runs with the assistance of his associate, James Sobczak.

Duties performed include home improvement, power washing, sheet-rocking, remodeling, basically the entire gamut of multi-purpose design and repairs that are frequently demanded of residential and business structures. That in itself stamps James Ruth a success in the world of self-made entrepreneurs; but that’s not entirely what links him to the rare “Renaissance” breed, a link he said goes back to his childhood.

“I grew up in an old classic house built in New London in 1706, and right from early childhood my father, who had been in the U.S. Marine Corps, instilled in my brothers and me the value of being self-sufficient,” Ruth said. “He felt we should learn to do things for ourselves, rather than having to depend on others when things went wrong. My dad wanted us all to know, even then, what it meant to be Renaissance men.”

A passion for reading had also been instilled in young Ruth in his early years, setting the wheels in motion for a habitual practice that would last a lifetime.

“My father felt reading to us was every bit as important as teaching us to be self-sufficient,” he said.

Hardy and fit from his years of working in a field that includes climbing, lifting, and a constant range of physical activity, Ruth’s extensive time spent outdoors has given him the lanky, wiry look of a volleyball or tennis player. He has found fitness in the very work he does daily. And he virtually glows when reflecting on the manner in which he and his five brothers were raised.

“Having also been a professor of history at Mitchell College, my father inundated us with works on that subject matter and classic literature as well. Books of every nature were always lying around the house and I became an avid reader because of that,” Ruth said.

To this day, he reads as often and passionately as time permits. It would lead to his pondering possible alternative trends in history, such as the consequences of the South winning the Civil War. That sort of speculation also led to a fascination with science fiction and the premise of alternative civilizations and parallel worlds.

“I’ve always liked novels with historical settings and could not help wondering how differently our world might have turned out given changes in some of its major events. That ‘what if” factor is often on my mind when reading about history ... And exposure to many classic works written by the likes of Hemingway or Poe also provokes your imagination into considering scenarios of a different sort, had certain events gone the other way,” Ruth said.

It also led him into another genre of reading.

“I have to confess an absolute love for graphic novels too,” he said. “I absolutely devoured the Marvel Comics series where alternative universes were explored within futuristic settings.”

Ruth’s intellectual and spiritual wanderlust would lead him into yet another delightful frontier: music. His reverence for it and his faith in its ability to sooth, to invigorate, and to set the wheels of social change in motion are of a near religious mettle.

“My real fascination with music began at 14 as part of a ‘healthy teenage rebellion,’” he said. “Where my father liked the old crooners like Sinatra, my mother loved folk singers like Judy Collins and Peter, Paul & Mary. Both my parents influenced me there. But I was sold on bands like the Beatles and the Kinks.”

Ruth remembers New London at the time as a place of “pick-up bands” where kids carried guitars on their backs and set up drum kits in their garages.

“If you wanted to learn how to play an instrument, everyone was willing to help and that’s how I learned ... from everyone else,” he said. “It was a wonderful part of growing up.”

The “garage-rock” of Ruth’s early music endeavors would lead to his forming a band with friends. He deemed it a “blend of college-rock and garage-punk.” The band was named Degoleg, after a childhood dog he owned that had one leg shorter than the other. Ruth smiles when recalling how that band “lasted the entire tenure of President George W. Bush.”

Ruth also credits fellow musicians like Ben Parent for helping along the way, and New London’s special events coordinator Barbara Neff for her role in encouraging area musicians

Now he heads up a new music group, The McJaggers, which is making a solid name for itself, having evolved via the same sort of community support for fellow musicians. It won one of the prestigious Whalie Awards presented to area bands that excel: “Best Pop Rock Performance of 2015.” (Far cry from those pickup garage days.)

“I have to say, my songs are my children … and my friends are my family,” Ruth said

So where have all the Renaissance men (and women) gone? Oh, they’re still here among us. You just might find them sitting near you in a coffee shop, writing; or stopped in traffic next to you: or even painting a house you’re walking by ... or perhaps browsing in the library alongside you. But they’re still here among us ... make no mistake about it.