J.R. Stewart

(Author's note: Jim Stewart is a common name. So common, if fact, there are 130 entries in the Portland, Oregon White Pages alone. This brief bio talks about me, one of those 130 entries. What follows might clarify some of what you might find when you search on Jim Stewart (although why you would escapes me at the moment). I guess there is some comfort to being one of such a large herd.)

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.

As a songwriter and performer, Jim has been featured in the films "Dancing on the Edge" and "Pacific Vibrations." With his longtime musical partner Craig Abrahamson, he formed Bivalve, a lively collaboration that has produced two CDs: "Unhinged" and "Middle Ground." With bassist Jaimie Keller, the group has morphed into a band called Tuna Reuben and can be heard sporadically around Portland and Oregon's north coast.

As J.R. Stewart, Jim has published poetry and/or short fiction in the following journals: The Alembic, The Licking River Review, Mostly Maine, Orange Willow Review, Orion Magazine, Progenitor, Rattapallax, The Blue Hour, and Tulane Review. He's also published short pieces in the North-Coast Times-Eagle and the Portland Guitar Society Quarterly. Jim's short story "White Ravens" was a finalist in a Glimmer Train open fiction contest.

Jim is hard at work promoting his novel "Ochoco Reach" and writing the sequel, "Joshua's Tree." There are more novels and a poetry collection in the queue awaiting their turn to shine.