James Zimmerman was born in 1929 and raised on a farm near Frederick, Maryland. Family lore of the Civil War was part of his childhood.

He received a Masters in Health Administration from the University of Pittsburgh and was a successful health care executive and a frequent writer in professional journals.

He retired in 1990 to pursue activities he loves, writing, gardening, visiting the family farm in Maryland, and an occasional round of golf. Marylanders is his second published novel and is a prequel to his first book, Dick Horne.

Zimmerman and his wife, Jean, live in Aiken, South Carolina. They have five children and seven grandchildren.