James had a brilliant, shrewd mind and a boundless curiosity and he often dabbled in photography, geology, mechanics, archeology, natural history and other disciplines that piqued his interest. James was a motorcycle enthusiast and rode a Harley Davidson. According to family members he was instrumental in developing one of the first panoramic photos. Looking closely, he can be found both at the far left end and at the far right end in the same photo. Notice the Davis Millinery Co of Dallas which made the Davis hats. They can still be found from time to time in antique stores.

Well, Guy Lombardo was at Louann's one night. I was selling popcorn table to table. They had a special table set up for them out in the middle of the club. I walked up to the table, but it was dark and I didn't recognize him. So I asked if he'd like to buy some popcorn. He looked up at me and said, "I'll make you a deal". He and his band were there with their wives. He said, "We want to go dance. If you'll sit here and keep an eye on the ladies' purses, I'll buy all the popcorn you've got." So I did, and he bought all my popcorn. I made more money that night than I ever thought I'd make in my life. Roy Orbison was there signing autographs. I wasn't selling popcorn that night. I was out picking up beer bottles off the tables. I used to like cleaning the tables. I'd sniff the beer bottles. On occasion I might have even sipped some beer out of a couple of them. Hell, when you're a kid you gotta get your beer where you can. So, Roy Orbison was over there signing autographs. He looked over at me and said, "Would you like an autograph too?" I said, "That's okay, I'll get one next time you're here". And he never came back to Louann's.