James Spencer is descended from pioneers who came to California by covered wagon a few years after the Donner party. He grew up on orchard ranches that were bulldozed to make way for Silicon Valley. During World War II he flew 40 missions as pilot of a four-engine bomber in the South Pacific and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for one of the missions featured in his book, THE PILOTS. He has helped to raise four children, taught at Stanford University and San Francisco State, worked in a Silicon Valley think tank, and lived in Europe and India. During the sixties he lived next door to Ken Kesey and attended the first Kool Aid Acid Test and the debut of the Grateful Dead. He has taught yoga and meditation, and is a licensed psychoterapist in private practice in California. His stories have appeared in many national magazines and anthologies, including THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES l999.