Jim was born in the city of Winnipeg but always knew he needed more open space. In his early 20’s Jim moved to northern Saskatchewan to be the youngest principal of a multi-classroom school in Canada. For the better part of 40 years, Jim taught in northern and rural Canada including a number of years in the extreme northern territory of Nunavut, Canada.

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He is a widower raising his young Cree son whom he adopted at birth at the request of the birth mother. Jim has 4 adult children and now lives in Morden, Manitoba.