Jim Behra

Although I was born in Phoenix, and lived for a couple years thereafter in Tucson, I spent most of my youth in El Paso. I did all my schooling in Texas, receiving a BA in Natural Sciences from The University of Texas at Austin, an MD from Texas Tech University, and ultimately completed Family Medicine residency training in Austin. After completing my residency in ’90, I moved back to Tucson and spent nearly thirty years practicing urgent care and emergency medicine here. I retired in February 2019. Having lived nearly my entire life in the Southwest, I’ve developed a deep-seated love for this part of the world. Although I have traveled extensively in Europe, and the Americas, the desert Southwest is my favorite place. I have explored, hiked, backpacked, rafted, skied and bicycled in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah, and, once, even did a llama trek in the fabulous Road Canyon of southeastern Utah. To me (quoting the first line in Edward Abbey’s biographical work, Desert Solitaire) ”This is the most beautiful place on earth.” It’s a privilege to live a mere five minutes’ drive away from Sabino Canyon, a small, but special part of my own personal “most beautiful place”.