From 1988 to 1993, he and his wife, Roberta, produced five annual Spirit of Place Symposiums in the US and Japan that featured 350 speakers, drew 10,000 people, and offered concerts by Paul Horn, Anna Halprin, R. Carlos Nakai, Steven Halpern, and the Japanese fusion band Earth Spirit. James and Roberta also produced the first international symposium on the Gaia Hypothesis, for the National Audubon Society. The program was held at the U. of Massachusetts in 1984, featured James Lovelock, George Wald, Donald Michael and Mary Catherine Bateson and a concert by Paul Winter.