James was born on October 7, 1951, to Reese and Dava James in Detroit, Michigan.[4] After growing up in the area, she attended Eastern Michigan University, where she received a B.S. in English in 1973.[5]
Journalism career
In 1979, James got her first job in journalism at City Magazine in Lansing, Michigan.[3] She worked there as a staff writer and editor for three years, before moving to North Carolina after being hired by the Greensboro News and Record in 1982.[6] She went on to join the St. Petersburg Times as a feature writer in 1986.[4]
During her time in St. Petersburg, Florida, James also worked for the Poynter Institute as a consultant, and provided instruction for high school newspapers in the area.[7]
James was the recipient of the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for her series "A Gift Abandoned,"[8] which the Pulitzer board called "a compelling series about a mother who abandoned her newborn child and how it affected her life and those of others."[9]
The following year, James was a finalist in the same category for her series "Life From Death,"[10] which was described by the Pulitzer board as a "gripping account of the effort to transplant the organs of a dead boy and turn the tragedy of his death into a gift of life for others."[11]
James returned to Michigan in 1991 to work as a staff writer for the Detroit Free Press, where she remained for over a decade.[12]
Since 1999, James has written two books about the history of Michigan, which range in subject matter from a biography of local artist Gwen Frostic[13] to the state's folk heritage.[14]
James identifies as Roman Catholic.[3] She married her husband, Eric Vigmostad, in 1974.[18] They have two children, named Teresa and Kelsey.[3] As of 2017, James and Vigmostad lived in Brighton, Michigan.[19]
