James R. Nicolson

James R. Nicolson (born Breiwick, Aith 10 July 1934, died 20 March 2012 Lerwick) was a Shetland author of non-fiction, and the founding editor of Shetland Life magazine and the 'Shetland Fishing News'. After spending time working in Sierra Leone, which formed the basis for his 1974 book 'The Tent and the Simbek', Nicolson returned to Shetland and took up residence in Scalloway.

His literary output in the late 1970s and early 80s was remarkable, as he charted the changes in Shetland society with the coming of North Sea Oil. His many titles include:

Dust cover of the 1984 Shetland edition

• Shetland (1972, 1975, 1979, 1984)
• The Tent and the Simbek (1974)
• Beyond the Great Glen (1975)
• Shetland and Oil (1975)
• Lerwick Harbour (1977)
• Shetland Folklore (1978)
• Traditional Life in Shetland (1978)
• Food From the Sea (1979)
• Shetland’s Fishing Vessels (1981)
• Hay & Company: Merchants in Shetland (1982)
• Memories of The Shetland Bus (1984)
• The Shetland Bus (1987)
• Orkney and Shetland (1990) (update of Eric Linklater’s volume)
• Shetland (Pevensey Island Guide) (1995)
• A Shetland Nature Diary (with Joyce J.M. Gammack) (1996)
• Shetland Fishermen: Celebrating 50 Years of the Shetland Fishermen's Association (1999)
• The Swan: Shetland's Legacy of Sail (1999)