Jim Webb has a map of Middle Earth, the setting for J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, hanging in his office. He’s proud of this gift from the firm. It’s a reflection of his love of fantasy literature, which along with science fiction and horror fiction (exemplified by authors Ramsey Campbell and Thomas Ligotti) make up what Jim calls the “trifecta of the less-respected areas of literature.”
Jim was born in Texas, but as an air force brat, he wandered. He spent a few very early years in Japan, and the family moved with his father’s postings every year after that. However, Anchorage, Alaska, was home from when he was in sixth grade until sophomore year of high school, a stretch in a locale he felt was formative. When his father was stationed in Louisiana, Jim studied at Louisiana State University and ended up working there as an instructor in freshman comp after receiving an MA in English.
Jim and his wife, Elizabeth, moved to Memphis in the mid-80s when she got a teaching position there. Jim faced a fork in the road, either get a PhD in English or go to law school. He was looking for the foundation for a solid, long career, and he found it in law. “I made a really good choice,” he says.
His favorite films include Local Hero, Magnolia, Blade Runner, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy—of course. And he enjoys the music of Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Michael Oldfield (of Tubular Bells fame); he’s a particular fan of long instrumental music.
He and Elizabeth travel frequently to visit Jim’s folks in Louisiana, but one new place he’d love to go is London (“That’s the English major in me”).
He roots for the Grizzlies, of course, and is an LSU football fan, but his greatest love is for books themselves as much as reading. “One word describes me well—bibliophile.” He has a large personal library that’s split between home and a storage unit. He finally broke down and got a Kindle—which he says will never replace actual books—mainly because some out-of-print books are currently available only as e-books.
Publications
Case Comment, “Evidence- State v. Barone: Limiting the Scope of the Hearsay Exception in Tennessee Rule 803(4),” The University of Memphis Law Review, Vol. 25, No. 2.
