James E.H. Mayer’s writing grows from a career in public service and a lifelong interest in what people learn when they meet across cultures.
His connection to Korea began through the Peace Corps, though he was not a Peace Corps Volunteer. Working with the program gave him a different vantage point. He saw the dedication of individual Volunteers and their Korean colleagues, while also keeping in view the responsibility Congress had entrusted to the Peace Corps: to “promote world peace and friendship.” To Jim, those words described a serious undertaking—one carried out through daily work, mutual respect, and relationships that could endure long after an assignment ended.
That understanding stayed with him through later work in international development and diplomacy. Across countries and cultures, he came to value leadership grounded in listening, humility, trust, and a willingness to learn from the people one hopes to serve.
Those experiences inform The Long Arc of Leadership, which draws practical lessons from a life of global service. In The Resting Place: Thoughts along the Way, his revised collection of essays and poetry, he turns toward faith, memory, loss, gratitude, and hope. His forthcoming book When the Burdens Become Too Heavy offers reflections for people carrying difficulties that others may not see.
Jim is also writing the five-book Harry Hudson series, a Cold War story about loyalty, identity, and the search for truth. Its setting and pace differ from his nonfiction, but it shares an enduring question: how do the people we encounter shape the lives we choose to lead?
He serves as Vice President of Friends of Korea, helping sustain the friendships formed between Koreans and Americans across generations.
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