06/28/2025
Jim was born and raised in Miami, Oklahoma. By his own admission, in his junior college years, he got distracted by girls and cars, which affected his grades and caused him to be drafted into the Vietnam War. His first duty station ended up being in Okinawa, Japan. Jim and his friend then actually volunteered to go to Vietnam! He says people that were rescued would come back to the air force base from Vietnam and share their stories and Jim wanted to see what the war was like and be a part of history. Jim was in the Air Defense Artillery, which is responsible for guarding Air and Army bases. He returned home in 1968 and had saved all his combat pay for a special car- an SS 396 and he got married! One day he saw a flyer to become a wildlife biologist, and he decided to commit to it by using his GI bill to pay for almost his entire PhD. After graduating, he went to work at Oklahoma State University (OSU) Veterinary College. He originally did research under another professor, but then was put in charge of teaching large animal anatomy and ended up teaching that for 10 years. While working at the Vet school, he visited India and spoke in Nagpur about teaching anatomy. While at OSU, he received 12 awards for his teaching.
Jim studied eagles in Montana for 6 years during trapping seasons, researching the wing surface area compared to their weight. His article was published in Raptor Research Journal, “Wing Loading and Golden Eagles.”
Once he retired, he started to care for his 20 acres of property and really loved it. He also enjoyed having an opportunity to finish his artwork, which was pen and ink drawings of eagles. His artwork came to the attention of a curator in Philadelphia. Jim’s artwork is featured at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, which is the oldest natural history museum in America. He has now been happily married to his wife for 41 years and living the retired life in the country.
Thank you, Jim, for sharing your story!
✳️Please check out this amazing artwork on the website linked✳️
https://www.anspblog.org/golden-eagle-artwork-finds-a-home/
