Jim L. Hickman and his wife, Gemma, live in Clay, Alabama. Growing up during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, then WWII, Jim traveled with his family over much of the Ozarks, Kansas prairies, and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming. He attended High School at La Junta, CO, just a short distance from the Santa Fe Trail and Bent’s Fort, which he writes about. Jim served as a Commissioned Officer, USNR, on active duty during the Korean War. He started his career with the U.S. Forest Service as a Smokejumper, stationed at Missoula, Montana. His life of adventure included being an avid skier, pilot, white water racing, travel in all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Africa, Thailand, Scandinavia, NW Europe, E Europe and W Mediterranean. He retired from the Forest Service in 1993, with 40 years of government service, including military. He has been writing non-fiction short stories for 12 years, and has self-published one book of short stories.