Info below provided by: Chief Funologist ((Biography by Nathan Thomas Taylor (born 1966))

James Buckham, also known by his pen name Paul Pastnor, was born on 25 November 1858 in Burlington, Vermont, United States of America.

He was a son of Elizabeth (Wright) Buckham and Matthew Henry Buckham, who was for many years the president of the University of Vermont.

James Buckham had a sister who went by the name Mrs. William T. Marsh, and three brothers: Professor John Wright Buckham of Berkeley, California; Robert Barnaby Buckham, a lawyer in Salem, Massachusetts; and Charles Wyman Buckham, an architect in New York City, New York.

James Buckham was educated in the public schools of Burlington and at the University of Vermont, receiving his A.B. (Bachelor of Arts Degree) in 1881 and his A.M. (Master of Arts Degree) in 1884. He took a special course in English at Johns Hopkins University, which he finished in 1888. He also took a course in religious journalism at Andover Theological Seminary, which he finished in 1892, though he decided against going into the ministry because of the failure of his voice. On 28 August 1895, he married Mary Brigham (born 21 June 1870), daughter of the Honorable Mr. and Mrs. Waldo Brigham, of Hyde Park, Vermont. For the next 18 years, he was a journalist for newspaper in Burlington, Vermont as well as in Boston, Massachusetts and in other cities. He then left journalism to become an essayist, a poet, a speculative fiction writer, and a naturalist. He served on the editorial staff of “The Youth’s Companion” for several years and contributed written articles to several periodicals over the years. He became known for his books of poetry: “The Heart of Life” (1897) and “A Wayside Altar” (1905), and for his books of essays: “Where Town and Country Meet” (1903), “Afield with the Seasons” (1907), and “The Heritage of Life” (1907).

James Buckham passed on at 49 years of age on 8 January 1908 in Melrose, Massachusetts, United States of America.