James Gunn has been a teacher for 37 years and was a psychotherapist in private practice for 16 years, specializing in dissociative disorders and attention deficit disorders. He holds a B.S. from the University of Alaska, an M.A. from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, Carpinteria, California. He grew up in Arkansas, played football and tennis for Henderson State Teachers College in Arkansas, graduated from the University of Alaska, and taught four years in two tiny villages in the Alaskan bush, then moved to California to complete a degree in Cinematography at Brooks Institute. He has resided in Santa Maria, California, for the last 27 years.