Asheville, NC native Jim Gardner has written for several publications, including Spectator Magazine (Raleigh, NC), The Independent Weekly (Durham, NC), and Green Line (Asheville). A Humanities instructor at Asheville School from 1994-2015, he currently is a Substitute teacher at Asheville High School/SILSA and makes music under the moniker Jr. James & The Late Guitar. He deejayed on WDNA, WXYC, and WNCW, and he studied symbolism and other labyrinth-related topics at Berea College and UNC-Chapel Hill.