James Opie graduated from Ohio University in 1962 and taught in a rural high school for two years before moving to Big Sur, where pot and LSD were readily available. By 1965, LSD “trips” so reoriented his life as to risk being homeless. Moving through this crisis, he discovered the spirituality of Gurdjieff and began to engage in “the Work.”
 
After additional years as a public school teacher, he also began a lucrative Oriental rug business, and began to write. Opie has published several books on Oriental rugs and many articles in Parabola and other magazines.
 
In 2002, he and Jacob Needleman founded The Gurdjieff Foundation of Oregon, where Opie served as president for ten years. During the pandemic, Opie left Oregon with his wife and moved to upstate New York where he continues to write and enjoy many in-person and virtual contacts, including ties in the Gurdjieff world. (From the publisher)