James Norton was born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1975. He attended college at UW-Madison, spending a year editing the Daily Cardinal. He was also the founding editor of the general interest online magazine Flak (1998-2008). After college, he worked at The Christian Science Monitor in Boston, contributing to the online side of the paper before moving over to print edition's Middle East desk. After editing Israel, Afghanistan, and Iraq news for more than three years, he joined Al Franken's newly launched radio show in New York City, working as the program's director of research. After following Franken's show to Minneapolis in 2006, Norton moved into a full-time career as a food writer, contributing to Minnesota Monthly, City Pages, and CHOW.com, where he still works as a weekly columnist. He's the founding editor of The Heavy Table, a daily online magazine dedicated to food and drink in the Upper Midwest.