James M. Ricci is a native Rhode Islander. He holds a doctorate degree from Salve Regina University in Newport, where he explored the city's efforts to reinvent itself from a sailor town to a tourist center following World War II. This led to a particular interest in the quarter-century struggle to build the Newport Bridge, which resulted in The Newport Bridge, published by The History Press in 2018. A lifelong baseball fan, he became curious about the details surrounding the departure of the Pawtucket Red Sox from Rhode Island to Worcester, Massachusetts. He has published articles on bungalow architecture and the Florida land boom of the 1920s. Jim is an avid golfer and serves on the board of directors of the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, Massachusetts.
