Jim Tayburn grew up on a dairy farm in central New York State, and while he still treasures the values that such a life instills, he knew he wanted something more. He left for the University of Buffalo and never looked back. His 37 year sales and marketing career with Occidental Petroleum took Jim and his wife, Marie, to Michigan, St. Louis, and Philadelphia, as well as Buffalo. They have witnessed firsthand the cultural and geographical landscape of living in the United States and feel blessed to have done so. Jim and Marie retired to Tucson, Arizona in 2005 and fell in love with the beauty and amazing diversity of life in the Sonoran Desert. They have two daughters and three grandchildren who live in the East. Jim says that if there is one downside to living out West, it's the miles of separation from family. His favorite poets are Robert Frost and Rudyard Kipling because their poems, "The Road Not Taken" and "If" are classics with a message that is simple and profound at the same time.