James A. Randall

James was born in Detroit, Michigan to Marguerite Fox and James Randall Sr. on December 3rd, 1938. He majored in English Literature with a minor in Organic Chemistry at the University of Michigan, where he won the Hopwood Award for poetry in 1961. He served in a Naval Aviation command during the Vietnam War and was honorably discharged in 1967. In a long and successful journalism career, James was Military and Arts editor at the Flint Journal, a Contributing Editor at Time Magazine and Time Canada, and an editor at Time-Life Books. For many years he was a Public Affairs executive at Mobil Oil Corporation and editor of The Compass, an international maritime magazine; general manager of Vision Magazine at Hachette Filipacchi Magazines and contributing editor at Aviation Aftermarket Defense magazine.

James was a published poet, whose writing appeared in collections including The Black Poets, edited by his uncle Dudley Randall. He also wrote short stories and two unfinished novels: Malthus, an encyclopedic, sci-fi novel, and Dixie Risen, an alternate history novel. He was also an avid gardener and loved nothing more than tending to his gardens in Brooklyn and East Hampton, NY. He leaves behind his wife of 57 years, Terree Grabenhorst Randall, his daughter Chelsea Randall, his brother Jon Randall, brother-in-law Tony Mulanix, sister-in-laws Louise Randall and Sherrie La Fever, and many nieces, nephews and cousins