When the author was a lad he translated Caesar’s Gallic Wars from the original Latin. It wasn’t clear to him at the time that the Gauls were Celts.  Therefore, he wrote Celtic Invasion of Rome from the viewpoint of the Celts because it is long past due that the founders of Europe are given their just place in history.

Philadelphia born James Francis Smith, shown making Irish soda bread with his grandsons, returned to his first love, historical novels, after a successful career in finance and industry. In addition to Celtic Invasion of Rome, Jim, wrote the highly acclaimed Path to a Successful Retirement. This book was reviewed by Publishers’ Weekly and the Library Journal. The forthcoming Life and Times of Liam O’Donnell is under contract to a NY literary agent. Jim also contributed three short stories to the anthology Dream Makers.

Jim received his Bachelor of Science Degree from LaSalle University in Philadelphia and his MBA degree from Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland, WA.  During his lengthy professional career, Jim, a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Financial Planner, was the controller for a two billion dollar division of the Weyerhaeuser Company.  Jim served on numerous boards including Bellarmine Preparatory School, Plus Business at Pacific Lutheran University and Southwest Washington Catholic Community Services.

Today in addition to his writing, Jim enjoys his grandchildren, while keeping an active hand in volunteerism.  Weekly, he assists at an emergency food bank, tutors public school children to read and volunteers at Habitat for Humanity.  Monthly, he helps cook and serve a meal at a drop-in shelter for Tacoma’s homeless and participates in Kiwanis’ Terrific Kids program. Annually he helps paint homes of the elderly to keep Tacoma beautiful.

In a word, he follows his own advice offered in The Path to a Successful Retirement, “Have a reason to get up every morning.”