The Old West Thrives in Big Jim’s Imagination

It’s no exaggeration to call the affable, 6’2″-tall writer “Big Jim” Williams, but the retired Santa Barbara City College public relations officer and radio journalist also enjoys an expansive imagination that feels at home in the Old West. It is where his fiction took root and has flourished in print, online, in two audiobooks, and in radio dramas.

Since 1998, when he sold and published his first short story—titled “Buckshot’s Thanksgiving”—Williams has written in different genres, such as science fiction and suspense, but he is most happy to be identified as a Western writer.

“I love Western history and have read a great deal of it,” he said. “As a result, I’ve always admired the people of the Western movement, their tenacity, courage, and resourcefulness.” The suffering of the settlers and adventurers who took the Oregon Trail or crossed the deserts to California can be measured by the graves of those who did not make it, he noted.