Editing James Cameron (section)

== Early life ==
James Francis Cameron<ref>[[Space Foundation]]. (n.d.). [http://astro.cornell.edu/~randerson/TheCaseForSpace.pdf America's vision: The case for space exploration] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221194549/http://astro.cornell.edu/~randerson/TheCaseForSpace.pdf |date=February 21, 2011}}, p. 42. Retrieved December 12, 2009.</ref> was born on August 16, 1954, in [[Kapuskasing]], Ontario, to Philip Cameron, an [[electrical engineer]], and Shirley ({{nee|Lowe}}), an artist and nurse.<ref name="nytimesref">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/books/excerpt-the-futurist.html|title=The Futurist: The Life and Films of James Cameron|last=Keegan|first=Rebecca|date=January 15, 2010|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=February 18, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181018082849/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/books/excerpt-the-futurist.html|archive-date=October 18, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> He is the first of five children, with two brothers and two sisters.<ref name="nytimesref" /> His paternal great-great-great-grandfather emigrated from [[Balquhidder]], Scotland, in 1825.<ref name="nytimesref" /> Cameron spent summers on his grandfather's farm in southern Ontario.<ref>{{Cite news|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=December 16, 2013|title=James Cameron compares upcoming Avatar sequels to The Godfather from his walnut farm in New Zealand|newspaper=[[National Post]]|url=https://nationalpost.com/entertainment/movies/james-cameron-compares-three-part-avatar-film-series-to-the-godfather-from-his-walnut-farm-in-new-zealand|access-date=September 24, 2021}}</ref> He attended Stamford Collegiate in [[Niagara Falls, Ontario|Niagara Falls]]. At age 17, Cameron and his family moved from [[Chippawa, Ontario|Chippawa]] to [[Brea, California]].<ref>{{Cite magazine | last = Goodyear | first = Dana | title = Man of Extremes: The Return of James Cameron | magazine = [[The New Yorker]] | date = October 26, 2009 | url = https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/26/091026fa_fact_goodyear | access-date = January 29, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190913233059/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/10/26/man-of-extremes | archive-date = September 13, 2019 | url-status = live }}</ref> He attended [[Sonora High School (La Habra, California)|Sonora High School]] and then moved to [[Brea Olinda High School]]. Classmates recalled that he was not a sportsman but instead enjoyed building things that "either went up into the air or into the deep".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-impossible-reality-of-james-cameron-56560/|title=The Impossible Reality of James Cameron|last1=Hedegaard|first1=Erik|date=December 24, 2009|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018193534/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-impossible-reality-of-james-cameron-56560/|archive-date=October 18, 2019|access-date=October 19, 2019}}</ref>

After high school, Cameron enrolled at [[Fullerton College]], a community college in 1973 to study [[physics]]. He switched subjects to English, but left the college at the end of 1974.<ref>{{cite book | last=Shaprio | first=M. | title=James Cameron: An Unauthorized Biography Of The Filmmaker | publisher=St. Martin's Press | year=2000 | isbn=978-1-58063-124-2 | pages=44–47}}</ref> Cameron worked odd jobs, including as a truck driver and a high school janitor. He drank beer, frequently consumed [[Cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] and [[LSD]], and wrote in his free time.<ref>[https://rollingstoneindia.com/james-cameron/ The Impossible Reality of James Cameron - Rolling Stone India]</ref><ref name="filmmakers.com">{{cite web|author=Media Pro Tech Inc. |url=http://www.filmmakers.com/artists/cameron/biography/page2.htm |title=James Cameron Biography by FilmMakers Magazine |publisher=Filmmakers.com |access-date=August 27, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617162554/http://www.filmmakers.com/artists/cameron/biography/page2.htm |archive-date=June 17, 2010}}</ref> During this period, he learned about special effects by reading other students' work on "[[optical printing]], or [[front screen projection]], or [[dye transfers]], anything that related to [[History of film technology|film technology]]" at the [[University of Southern California Libraries|USC library]].<ref name="Syd Field">{{cite web|url=http://www.sydfield.com/interviews/james-cameron/|title=Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Part I)|author=Field, Syd|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418090751/https://sydfield.com/syd_resources/james-cameron/|archive-date=April 18, 2019|access-date=February 7, 2015}}</ref> After the excitement of seeing ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'' in 1977, Cameron quit his job as a truck driver to enter the [[film industry]].<ref>''The Force Is With Them: The Legacy of Star Wars'', 2004.</ref>