James McArthur is a Butte, Montana native. He graduated from Montana State University and became an architect in 1970. It's a profession he still practices, even as he eases into his eighties.
James began reading poetry at an early age and writing his own during the turbulent 1960s. The events of those years are the reason why he began painting portraits of the victims of assassinations.
He moved to Spokane in 1968 and grew to love Washington state and this city. He has a wife of more than fifty years and two grown sons.
In addition to having been a longtime distance road runner (he participated in the first 40 Bloomsdays), James has sung in the Spokane Symphony Chorale for 45 years and is currently a member of the Chorale Coeur d'Alene as well. He has also appeared on the stage of the Spokane Civic Theatre over the years, with roles in South Pacific, Oklahoma! and other musicals.
He loves reading biographies as much as he loves the unending potential of the English language.