Biography
James Lindquist was born on March 5, 1943 as James Carl Warren. (Explanations of the name come later in his biography.) At present, He resides in Portland, Oregon but plans on moving to Tigard, Oregon after he settles his dad's estate. James loves Oregon because of all the greenery and has lived there most of his life. However, he is willing to go anywhere the Lord leads him. He loves Jesus.
On your left, James leans on an old time wagon while on a trip to Shaniko, Oregon. It is his favorite place to hang out and write because it is unbelievably quiet and he can get lost in his writing very easily. Of course, the biscuits and gravy served at the Shaniko Inn Restaurant supplies a big draw to him as well.
The header image above shows James capturing a thought on his computer while sitting on his youngest son's deck in Orlando, Florida. The image on the home page again shows James on his son's deck doing what he loves to do. He told his son that that is where he would spend most of his time if he lived there, to which his son replied, we do.
James came to the Lord when he was about ten years old and he can still remember sitting in the basement of an old Baptist church just a couple blocks away from home while the pastor lead him to the Lord. James thought that he belonged to God and didn't know that he needed to pursue Jesus further on an ongoing daily basis. He thought love was enough, and besides, he belonged to Jesus. Because of his error in judgment as a young child and because of peer pressure, he ended up in the hog pen. He stayed there for forty-years. He wasn't a bad person but he just wasn't following Jesus like he should have as a Christian. In retrospect, he blames no one but himself.
James got his love of the Lord from his mom, Doris, who loved Jesus with all her heart. She was a dutiful wife and mother. She loved to read and is probably where James also learned the love of reading. She was highly intelligent and was able to skip grades while going to school. Doris was totally devoted to her husband and family. She had special verses from the Bible that she shared with each one of her children. It was their personal thing with mom. James and his mom shared Proverbs 3:5,6, which says: (5)Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. (6)In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Although his Dad did not know the Lord growing up, he was still a very good man. James had a fantastic childhood. They were a functional family and were very close-knit. His dad, Jack Warren, played seventeen-years of semi-professional baseball. He played with the Portland Beavers and the Seattle Rainiers. He knew and played with many of the greats. James remembers during home games, while living in Portland, his dad would take him out on the field and hit fly balls to him with the fungo bat (when he should have been practicing). James will remember those times until he goes home to be with the Lord Jesus.
James later played baseball himself in the Portland city league as a pitcher. After playing for a few years, James came to a decision: he felt that Baseball was not his cup of tea and left the league and baseball. He left as part of a regional championship team. His dad later told him that professional scouts were looking at him for the big leagues. If he could have, he would have kicked himself in the gluteus-maximus. However, without the passion to play, it wouldn't have worked anyway, so it all turned out for the best. He rationalized his decision by saying, how do you follow an act like dad. Nobody looked better behind the plate catching or looked better taking his cuts at the ball. He had a beautiful swing.
At the age of eighteen, James met a beautiful woman by the name of Edna Jean. She was a good ole country gal with blue eyes and blonde hair, a real knock out. He was immediately smitten with her. After they dated for some time he finally got up the gumption to ask her to be his wife. To his amazement, she said yes. They lived happily ever after until about twenty-seven years into the marriage and they divorced.
Because of the normal things of life like the kids, birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and trips to the hospital, they couldn't help but seeing each other. As a result, they began to go out for coffee to talk about the family and other things that parents talk about and before you knew it, three years actually, they remarried. Praise God. In the meantime, Edna came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Things were once again perfect. Double praise God. Just like Lazarus, Jesus let them die so that when they got back together, He would get all the glory. Hallelujah!
James is the proud father of four beautiful and talented kids. His oldest son, James Carl Jr., works for Nike as a systems analyst and after many applicants, James Jr. is one of five people in the United States transitioning them to a new system. His wife's name is Tina and they have a beautiful six-year-old daughter named Ally who loves her Gamma and Papa.
His oldest daughter, Helen Jean, is a fantastic cake decorator and most of the time she decorates freehand when most use a template. Her husband is Don and they have no children at this time.
His youngest son, Richard Scott, flies for Southwest Airlines and was a jet instructor in the Navy. His wife's name is Julia and they have an eight-month-old son who is the spitting image of his dad. (Underline spitting.)
James' youngest daughter, Lisa Laverne, is a great country singer and has won or placed in many singing contests. Lisa is divorced and has two daughters Shelsea and Melissa and one son named Stephan. I will have a Website finished for her very soon so you can listen to her music. I might be a little prejudice but she is very good. James loves all of his kids and is very proud of them all. He is a very lucky man and family means everything to him.
James has two brothers, Jack and Jeff, and one sister named Judy. Jack and his wife Dianna have a daughter named Stephanie and a set of paternal twins, Jack Jr. and Cassandra. Jeff has a set of identical twins, Anthony and Niklas. Judy has three children named Vickie, Julie, and Carl Jr. Like James, his brothers and sister are grandparents with grandkids that they spoil and send home. Isn't that what grandparents are supposed to do?
James is a Christian of over fifty-four years and rededicated his life to the Lord in 1991. The Lord promptly baptized him in the Holy Spirit. At the time he attended New Beginnings Church under the pastoral care of Pastor Larry Huch. He loved the exuberance of the church and the worship times spent there. He presently attends New Hope Community Church in Portland, Oregon under the care of Pastor Ray Cotton. He loves going to New Hope and especially loves the tremendous worship team. He has met a lot of very nice people.
In 1994, James developed an interest in writing and began taking a writing class at the local PCC College. This class would change his life. When he started the class he didn't know an adverb from a noun. Therefore, to work in the inter-active class, he created the title, theme, and storyline of Deadly Port. He didn't know it at the time but his writing would change from fiction to nonfiction and the desire to help other Christians through his writing.
When James first started writing fiction and nonfiction he needed a way to differentiate the two for his readers. Therefore, in honor of his deceased Swedish mom, he began writing his nonfiction under the pseudonym of James Lindquist, which was her maiden name. James no longer writes secular fiction and devoted his entire writing career to the Lord. James' passion is writing and he believes that this is his purpose given to him by God. He now writes both nonfiction and fiction under the same name, James Lindquist. (He is even in the process of changing the secular version of Deadly Port to a Christian version.)
James is an author of three books: The Final Cup, The Rose of Sharon, and Deadly Port. You can read the blurbs on the Previews page of this site. Briefly, “The Final Cup” is a nonfiction book about our vertical and horizontal relationships in parallel terms. The emphasis is on Christ. “The Rose of Sharon” is another nonfiction book and is a teaching on the Bride of Christ using the same parallel relationships but the emphasis is on the Bride. “Deadly Port” is a fiction book and although it is a murder suspense story the theme is prayer.
In 2006, James, along with his youngest son and his wife; his youngest daughter and a friend, went to the Bahamas for a seven-day cruise. They enjoyed themselves thoroughly. It was a very relaxing time. During a stop at Grand Turk Island, James took his wife on a horse carriage ride around the Island. What a beautiful ride. While at Pearl Island, a little southeast of Nassau, James even had a chance to wade with the stingrays. His wife was scared and wanted no part of it. It was an awesome time.
However, when they returned home there was a letter waiting for them in the mailbox. It read, in effect, "Pursuant to ORS. 90.634, you are required to move your home from the park. The owner, herein known as Baseline Woods, will be changing the purpose of the property. . ." Many mobile home parks in the area got the same letter. With three or four parks affected and two to three hundred families per park looking for the four or five lots available, James was able to find and secure another space for their mobile home twelve miles away. Eighteen-thousand dollars later they lived in a new park; new space, new friends, and a new routine in life. This move was devastating to their finances and to the family.
In December of 2007, his wife of forty-two years wanted to go her separate way and they divorced…again. James lost everything important to him. Not only were they asked to leave their community and friends but he eventually lost his wife, his home, his emotional stability, and his financial security; his mom passed away and then his dad died, his father-in-law died and his brother-in-law passed away. It was too much for him to handle at the time and he fell into a deep depression. However, God is accelerating his healing process.
Since then, James has got back on track emotionally, spiritually, and financially. He has dedicated his life to writing for God. The Lord told him that he will take something meant for bad and turn it into something that is good. The Lord has all ready started the process and imparted to James the spark of a third book. The working title is "This Side of the River " and it will be the third in a series that includes "The Final Cup" and "The Rose of Sharon." See the Chapter Previews link for the blurbs.
"This Side of the River" will not only cover divorce but it will also cover how to survive. James feels he can help those going through divorce because he went through it. . .twice. He not only knows the mistakes that he made and what he did right, but more importantly, he knows how he felt and what he did to work through those feelings. Its content will speak to believers and nonbelievers alike.
James graduated from CWG (Christian Writers Guild) as a journeyman. The owner of the school is Jerry Jenkins of the "Left Behind" series. He plans on rewriting his work to apply what he has learned and then begin his Craftsman classes. He is excited about his writing career and about life once again. Praise God!
The Lord gave James a clear path to follow and he feels as long as he is obedient and continues to follow Christ, he will not end up on some tangent far away from the destiny that God has ordained for him. He is excited about where God is going to take him and about the destiny that God has in store for him. He is very thankful that Christ loves him and that He gave him a part and purpose in His kingdom. This has been a dream of his ever since he first became a Christian and watched others serving God in their special way.
Copyright © James C. Lindquist 2005