Jim Lacey grew up in Brooklyn, New York, in the Golden Age before the Dodgers abandoned Ebbets Field. He was the victim of a classical education under the auspices of the Jesuits at Brooklyn Prep and St. Peter's College, where he majored in philosophy, English, and (well, almost) mathematics. After a year at the University of Bern, Switzerland, Jim became the first teaching assistant in the English department at Boston College. With an M.A. almost in hand, he did a stint as an artillery officer at Fort Benning, GA, returned to New York to marry the love of his life, got a job teaching English in Brooklyn, and began to take courses at NYU. After a year of research in Germany and (finally!) finishing his Ph.

D., Jim found a home at Eastern Connecticut State College. At Eastern he developed an American Studies program, chaired the English department, and directed the honors program for ten years. After retiring from Eastern, he wrote Double Trouble and its sequel The Zazan Puzzle just for fun. Jim and Barbara Lacey celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in August, 2008. They have two children, Christopher and Beth, both with doctorates in science, and six grandchildren.