J.R. Stewart, Jim was born in Chicago and has memories of living in Buffalo, New York, New England, and Southern California.

Finally, he grew up in Oregon where he has lived and worked for the last four decades.

His working life has been eclectic, with time spent as a musician, truck driver, laborer, mechanic (of both vehicles and musical instruments), house painter, business owner, salesman, and, through it all, a writer and poet.