Rick James is a writer, maritime historian, photographer and field archaeologist, whose work has been published in numerous periodicals including The Beaver: Canada's History Magazine, The Sea Chest: Journal of the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society and Western Mariner. He is the author of Ghost Ships of Royston and co-authored Historic Shipwrecks of BC's Central Coast, Historic Shipwrecks of the Sunshine Coast and The Comox Valley. Many people recognize him from his role in The Sea Hunters documentary Malahat: Queen of the Rum Runners, which aired on Canada's History channel. He lives in Courtenay, BC.