James M. Aton is an award-winning author or coauthor of seven books on the Colorado Plateau’s rivers, explorers, and artists. Ohio University awarded him a PhD in American literature in 1981. He was a professor of English at Southern Utah University from 1980 to 2020. Aton was also a Visiting Fulbright Scholar in American Studies at Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia in 1989-90 and at Sichuan University of China in 1997-98. He currently serves as the board president of the Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance.