James G. Butler developed his love of words from his father, who collected dictionaries James (or Jimmy as he is known to friends and family) wrote poetry from a very young age. His educational path followed this early interest in the music of words. He studied Indian classical flute under GS Sachdev at the Ali Akbar College of Music, rhythm under Zakir Hussein, and raga under Ali Akbar Khan and Sachdev. Following this four-year course of study, he earned a BA degree in rhetoric from UC Berkeley and a law degree from the University of San Francisco.

Jimmy is a seasoned meditator and litigator, managing a team of legal warriors to leverage the insights of military strategist Sun Tsu and balancing disciplines of Buddhist Kum Nye in the service of justice for his clients. He is also an art collector. The images in this edition are taken from his extensive collection of post-1940 contemporary art, with the exception of four, which were specifically commissioned for this collection.

In 2011 Jimmy’s wife of 35 years Laura Menken Butler died. She inspired many of the poems in Infinite Refrain, which covers the spectrum from joyful lyricism to somber meditations on mortality and loss. The poems are populated with painterly colors and the sounds of nature, particularly those found in his Northern California environs.