Golden Light: The 1878 Diary of Captain Thomas Rose lake

James B. Kirk III teaches in the Writing Program at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. His work has appeared in such notable magazines as Ploughshares, Atlanta Review, Snowy Egret and many others. His awards in poetry include the Daniel Morse Poetry Prize, two New Jersey State Council on the Arts Awards and a Fellowship at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire.

Born at Somers Point, New Jersey, in 1958, he had a typical upbringing in the 1960s in the town of Linwood; he spent summers as an Ocean City Beach Patrol lifeguard on the surfing beach. After earning a BA in literature at Stockton State College, and graduate work was carried out at the University of New Hampshire where he earned an MA in Creative Writing. He lives in Northfield, NJ with his wife, Patricia Winn-Kirk, a published speech/language pathologist, and his two children, Elizabeth and Ellis.

James B. Kirk II taught English and history at Ocean City (New Jersey) High School until 1956 when he received his MA in psychology and student services. Thereafter, he was the director of the guidance department at the high school. In 1982 he was named official historian for the city of Linwood, New Jersey, his hometown.

Born in 1925 at Saranac Lake, New York, Mr. Kirk's family moved to southern New Jersey. The bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred when he entered Rutgers University as a freshman, and he then joined the Army. During World War II, he was a bombardier on a B-17 and served in the North African and Italian theaters. He flew thirty-eight missions and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the highest medal of honor awarded by the (then) Army Air Corps. In 1946 he returned to Rutgers where he took a double major in English Literature and History. In 1948, he married Audrey Sophia Cramer and had four children: Ronald B. Kirk II (died in infancy), Laurie, Ronald B. III and James B. II. He died in 1992.