James W. Battee

I was born June 2, 1939 in Baltimore, Maryland. I grew up on the east side in an area commonly known as Highlandtown. Back in those days, that was a great place to grow up. I spent a lot of my youth in Patterson Park which was only a few blocks from my house, and right across the street from the school I attended, St. Elizabeth of Hungary. I went to Baltimore Polytechnic Institute for high school and dropped out in the 12th grade. Later I got my GED and picked up a few credits at the community college. That was after I married my first wife, Sue. We had one daughter, Karen, who did go through and finish college, picking up two degrees. Sue died of cancer in 1996. I met Judy, my present wife, on the Internet. Our first date was on a motorcycle. We went riding locally, and did a fast trip down I-97 at 80 mph. We were married in 2000, and spent a lot of time on motorcycles. It seems as though every time I would pick up my helmet and head for the door. Judy, grabbed hers and was right behind me. We traveled all throughout Maryland, parts of Virginia, and West Virginia. We even made one for a stint to Pennsylvania. In 2010, I could no longer handle the bike with both of us on it, so I sold it. I have been a writer all my life. At one time, I wrote a column for a renaissance re creation group in Chaucerian English. Double Trouble on Corned Beef Row is the first novel I finished. I had started two others, but they were left undone. Mow,I am attempting a book for young adults, and I am writing an outline for novel number two.