A Touch of God

About the Book

After his mother was lost during his birth, James “Jimmy” Simms faced obstacles that took a lifetime to overcome. Abandoned by his father and even blamed for his mother’s death, Jimmy struggled throughout his early childhood. After a life as a street thug and petty criminal, Jimmy was drafted into the Army where he served during the Korean War, earning commendations and an honorable discharge. Unfortunately, military life was not for Jimmy and upon his return home, the personal demons he faced as a child would once again lead him into a life of crime which eventually led to the Colorado State Penitentiary. This is his story of survival and overcoming.

About the Author

Born Margaret Yvonne Cash to a blind couple in Atlanta, she faced immediate challenges. After her father left when she was two, her mother sank into depression and insecurity. Margaret overcame the difficulties and attended college at Jacksonville State University becoming a schoolteacher during desegregation in the South. She says, “I would have lived just to do that.” Later, tragedy struck in her mid-thirties. Margaret suffered a severe cerebral aneurysm causing a debilitating stroke leaving her partially paralyzed. She was told she would never walk again. Although she did walk after only six months, the traumatic experience was more than her marriage could withstand and she divorced a short time later. After the divorce, Margaret met and married James Simms, a reformed bank robber from Ohio. This is her first work on the story of his life. Now sixty-three, she lives in Birmingham, AL near her two daughters and extended family.