James McKimmey

in his own words

I was born in Holdrege, Nebraska, and grew up in two more Nebraska towns, Red Cloud & Omaha. I attended Omaha Central High School where my main interest was architecture and music. I played the clarinet in the band, the orchestra and a clarinet quartet. Following graduation, in order to earn college money, I went to work as a draftsman for a long-established architectural firm. I then started studying architecture at The University of Nebraska.

World War II interrupted that effort. I enlisted into the Army and following basic training near San Diego, California, I attended Indiana University in the ASTP Program. Six months later, I was transferred back to regular duty, joined the 102nd Infantry Division which went into European combat at Palenburg, Germany. Following the end of hostilities, I attended the American University at Biarritz, France, for a semester, at which time I decided to change my studies to journalism.

After discharge from the Army, I married Marty, a girl I met at IU, moved to California and finished my college studies at the University of San Francisco, graduating in 1950 with a Bachelor of Science degree in English. It was at USF where I sold my first short story to a "little magazine" called the American Pen. I held a variety of jobs with writing my major ambition. I sold stories to a variety of magazines, from the pulps to the slicks and started writing full time in 1955, eventually writing 17 books.

I moved to Lake Tahoe in 1961 and have been here ever since. Becoming a widower nine years ago, I married Starr, also a writer. We have three sons, a daughter-in-law and five grandchildren.

I am astonished to realize that all of this has taken 80 years.