Growing up in the village of Ester in the heart of Alaska, James A. Truett developed an appreciation for nature, photography and publishing at an early age.
He began his career as a journalist and photographer for the local newspaper, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, at the age of 14. By age 16, he held the position of Wire Editor and was responsible for deciding what national and international news would appear in the newspaper, which had a circulation of 30,000 daily.
While juggling his newspaper job with high school classes, he also earned a diploma in professional photography by correspondence. He picked up his private pilot's license at the age of 17, and by the age of 19, he was drafted by The Associated Press in Seattle, eventually becoming one of the youngest journalists in the world to be published in every major newspaper in the world.
As a reporter for The AP, he covered a wide range of subjects including politics as a member of the Capitol Press Corps in Washington State, human interest and entertainment.
It should be no surprise that photography has been a central focus of his life and career. In 1980, his camera took a bullet and saved his life during an armed robbery in Seattle.
Weary of the negative philosophy of news, he launched several businesses over subsequent years, including a public relations firm managing fan relations for some famous rock music groups, and a Los Angeles-based limousine service catering to Hollywood celebrities and business executives.
His plans to retire to his mountaintop retreat in Oregon in 1992 literally went up in smoke when his rustic off-grid house was destroyed by a forest fire, less than two months after moving there. Truett, his 88-year-old father and their 100 lb. Akita narrowly escaped the blaze, which claimed not only lifetime personal treasures and buildings on the 40 acres of forest property, but also his extensive photo library.
His penchant for travel and adventure has taken him throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Central America, the Bahamas, Ireland and Scotland. As a sailor, he has cruised extensively in the waters of Puget Sound and the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, the Oregon Coast and Mexico's Sea of Cortez.
Fascinated by the Ancient Mayan culture, he has made a number of trips to Central America to explore jungle ruins in El Salvador and Honduras and spent nearly 10 years living and travelling in Mexico.
In 2004, he became an Irish Citizen through Foreign Birth Registration - his paternal grandmother was born in County Clare and emigrated to the U.S. in 1895, and his maternal great grandfather was born in Kilkenny and moved to the U.S. as a child during the mid-1800s famine years.
Realizing a lifelong dream, he first visited the land of his ancestors in 2006. Enchanted by the Irish countryside, he moved there the following year.
Truett now resides in County Clare, Ireland, from where he manages his portfolio of art, photography and publishing projects.
