James B. WellsJAMES B. WELLS is a retired criminology and criminal justice professor in the School of Justice Studies in the College of Justice, Safety, and Military Science at Eastern Kentucky University, and is the recipient of the 2025 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences John Howard Award, an award given intermittently, upon significant demand, to recognize an individual who has made significant and sustained contributions to the practice of corrections. A former carpenter, soldier, and correctional officer in a super-maximum-security prison and later as a researcher/planner assisting architects in prison design, he has multiple degrees, including an M.S. in Criminal Justice, a Ph.D. in Research, and an MFA in Creative Writing. He’s authored or co-authored over sixty-five books, chapters, articles, and essays, as well as over a hundred and fifty research reports for various local, state, and federal agencies. Recent essays from his research and memoir work appear or are forthcoming in Collateral Journal, About Place Journal, Wild Roof Journal, Military Experience and the Arts, The Wrath-Bearing Tree, Shift, Proud to be: Writing by American Warriors, Trajectory Journal, and From Pen to Page III: More Writings from the Bluegrass Writers Coalition.
His investigative memoir about his father's still CIA-classified death in Vietnam in 1965, titled Because: A CIA Coverup and a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew, will be launched on Father's Day weekend, 2025. Links to publications, presentations, trailers, social media, blog, and other information can be found at https://jamesbwells.com. James enjoys spending much of his leisure time with his spouse on their Lexington, Kentucky farm located on the palisades of the Kentucky River, where he is an organic gardener and beekeeper.
Last night in Crestview Hills, Kentucky, I met with a fantastic group of men, all of whom are affiliated with the Lutheran Church. They chose my investigative memoir, Because: A CIA Coverup and a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father they Never Knew, as the book for their club to read and study this month. […]
Our Fall Book Tour with my investigative memoir, Because: A CIA Coverup and a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew, continues: September 30 | Crestview Hills, KY | Book Club Meeting | Discussion and Signing Because | 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm | Books will be available at the event. October 4 […]
On the 60th anniversary of my father’s death in Vietnam on September 27, 1965, I want to highlight that he was a whistleblower long before the term “whistleblower” was widely recognized. His first documented case occurred in March 1948 when he was a 21-year-old Provost Sergeant at the Nürnberg War Crimes Trials. Other documented instances […]
Not bad advice for current times from someone who witnessed the lies throughout most of the Vietnam War. BTW, Chuck has focused much of his post-Vietnam War life on being the co-founder of Project RENEW, which focuses on mitigating war legacies, including UXO and Agent Orange/dioxin.
Special thanks and gratitude to Stephen Vest, publisher of Kentucky Monthly, and to Steve Flairty’s Book Review, “Deeply Personal Search,” of my investigative memoir, Because: A CIA Coverup and a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew, and to Kentucky author and Poet Laureate, Richard Taylor, for his terrific testimonial of my book […]
Katerina Stoykova recently interviewed me about my investigative memoir Because: A CIA Coverup and a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew on WUKY’s Accents Podcast. https://www.wuky.org/podcast/accents/2025-09-17/james-b-wells
Brenda and I spent the day yesterday at the North Georgia Book Fair on the campus of the University of North Georgia (UNG). I left that campus (North Georgia College (NGC) then) more than 30 years ago to take on a position at Eastern Kentucky University that allowed me to not only teach but also […]
The Suspicious Minds and Snacktime Book Club, which was formed as a result of my book, welcomed me with welcome arms, food, and gifts when I showed up for their fifth meeting about my book. This book club impressed me so much. They came with lists of questions, and when discussing the book in one […]
On my mother’s birthday this year, the same day we start our fall book tour, I can’t help but think of her involvement in my story and what led to my investigative memoir, Because: A CIA Coverup and a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew. In many of my father’s 400 letters, […]
Brenda and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Spindletop Hall, accompanied by an engaging audience that asked insightful questions about my investigative memoir, Because: A CIA Coverup and a Son’s Odyssey to Find the Father He Never Knew. I would like to thank Cheryl Jones, the chairperson of SpindleKindles Book Club, and Becca Morrison, the […]
James B. Wells