James Dalton Byrd has worn many hats in his life. He was a professional musician for almost twenty years which he played in Beaumont, Texas, Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Nashville, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, New Orleans, and New York. His instruments included guitar, bass, banjo, bagpipes, and for some humor, he played guitar, garden hose, and double-reed slide music stand in a jug band at the opening of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. He has been a crane operator, a frame carver, an environmental technician, a music teacher, and a music store manager.
In 1974, he re-enrolled in college and changed his major from Commercial Art to Biology and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and a Master of Science in Biology with concentrations in aquatic biology and parasitic biology.
From 1965 to 1967, he was in the United States Army and served in Vietnam (Infantry, Purple Heart).
James Dalton Byrd retired from teaching high school (biology, chemistry, and physics) in 2003 and began writing. His poetry and stories are inspired by his many experiences.