Jim Duggins is currently an active member in good standing of the Original Palm Springs Writers Guild (Palm Springs, California) and The Authors Guild (New York, New York), as well as the Historical Fiction Novel Society. He is also the sponsor of a legacy with the Lehigh Valley Legacy Fund (Maryland) to support journalist interns and a legacy with the Tennessee Williams Festival Foundation (New Orleans, Louisiana) for the annual Outstanding Mid-career Novelist Prize.
He has taught in high school, community college, and most recently at San Francisco State University, was a co-author of HOOKED ON BOOKS (Berkley Books), compiled TEACHING READING FOR HUMAN VALUES (Charles Merrill), and has written many articles for academic journals (The English Journal, The Journal of Reading, Wilson Library Journal, etc.).
He has freelanced on a variety of topics and work-for-hire in trade journals. He recently published a memoir about his experiences as a young man working at Alcatraz, and has done historical pieces in newspaper Sunday supplements. Having settled in the desert, he has also written about what has come to be known as Mid-century Modern Architecture in Southern California. His most recent piece is a memoir "A Rock and a Hard Place" which appeared in LOVE CASTRO STREET: REFLECTIONS OF SAN FRANCISCO. Alyson Press, 2007.
U. S. Navy Journalist, Korean War - 1951 - 1954