James Lowery – October 21, 1944 – April 16, 2026
I was running on fumes.
Sweat poured down my face as I sawed back and forth with my bowdrill. I had the fervor of a madman. The screeching “creak” of the Mulefat spindle was like fingernails on a blackboard. And just as smoke began to rise from the gap in the cedar hearth board, I knew there was no hope. I was out of gas. Another failure.
Sitting nearby, our teacher, Jim Lowery noticed my distress. In a quiet voice he said, “I don’t know why, but it gives you energy if you think, ‘I WANT FIRE!’”
I want fire. I want fire! I WANT FIRE! I put forth a last burst of effort as Jim walked slowly over and kneeled by my side. I began to flag. And Jim placed his hand over mine and we sawed together. The wisp of smoke became steady.
“Stop.” Jim took my tinder bundle and bent over the hearth board. “Rest for a moment.” I was winded and struggled to catch my breath. I wiped the sweat from my eyes. Jim handed the bundle back to me with the ember I created cushioned snugly in the middle.
I began to blow into the tinder bundle, being careful to keep it raised so my sweat could not drip into it. Between breaths I raised the bundle, as if making an offering to the gods. A vagary of the wind suddenly gave me a face full of smoke. Coughing and gasping, I continued to blow into the tinder bundle. And suddenly my hands were burning. The tinder bundle burst into flames!
What an amazing feeling to create fire using just your knife, sticks, and some cordage! But I never would have succeeded without Jim’s patient teaching, encouragement, and intervention.
An Amazing Teacher
Jim Lowery was a kind and patient teacher. Jim founded Earth Skills in 1987, where he and his wife Mary Brooks taught nature connection and traditional skills.
Jim was an amazing teacher. Quietly engaging, his teaching style was patient, nurturing, and encouraging. He was remarkably inventive. Jim created learning experiences that continue to inspire my own teaching. He arranged for us to observe a captive mountain lion leaving tracks in the sand. He had us prepare a gourmet meal using wild edible plants. And he created wonderful exercises where we hid from him in the woods, stalked our classmates who pretended to be deer, and practiced being animals by walking on all fours with sticks to extend our arms.
Jim teaching us to cast tracks in plaster.
Jim taught me to build a debris hut (thermal A-frame), how to carve a Figure-4 trap, walk the woods with wide-angle vision, and to sew my own moccasins. He was supportive, dedicated, thoughtful, and unassuming.
Jim checking our salmon smoker.
A Legacy of Tracking
Most of all, Jim was a seasoned, hands-on, and deeply passionate tracker. It was Jim who introduced me to animal tracking so many years ago. He encouraged us to visualize the animal’s movements. He tried to put us in the mind of the animal we were tracking.
Jim’s books, THE TRACKER’S FIELD GUIDE: 3rd Edition and Walk With The Animal: A Tracking Methodology are invaluable resources on my bookshelf. But it is the people who went through his school that are Jim’s true legacy.
I enjoyed learning from both Jim and Mary for many years. Jim made my life richer by inspiring me to search for a nature connection.
I will always remember Jim fondly. And I am grateful to him for sharing his knowledge and philosophy.
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