James D. Hornfischer (November 18, 1965 – June 2, 2021[1]) was an American literary agent, author, and naval historian.
A one-time book editor at the publishing company HarperCollins in New York, Hornfischer was later president of Hornfischer Literary Management, a literary agency in Austin, Texas.
Hornfischer was born in Salem, Massachusetts. He was a 1987 graduate of Colgate University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated with high honors in German. He received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 2001.
Hornfischer, a non-practicing member of the State Bar of Texas, was president of Hornfischer Literary Management, a literary agency in Austin, Texas, that represents authors of nonfiction books in a variety of subject areas, including current affairs, history, politics, biography, business, and popular science, among others. Clients include David Bellavia, James Bradley, HW Brands, Fred Burton, Susannah Charleson, Kim Cross, Steve Forbes, George Friedman, William H. Goetzmann, Don Graham, James L. Haley, Woody Holton, Annie Jacobsen, Alex Kershaw, Governor Rick Perry, Ron Powers, Roy Spence, Mark K. Updegrove, and others. He was a member of the Authors Guild and the Texas Institute of Letters, and served on the advisory board of the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference, sponsored by the Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas. He has written for Smithsonian, The Wall Street Journal, and other periodicals. He was a board member of the Naval Historical Foundation.
On 18 May 2021, he was awarded the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award by the Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC), RADM, USN-Ret, Samuel J Cox.[2]
On 2 June 2021, he died from glioblastoma[3] in Austin, Texas, at age 55.[4]
