Lineberger, James

James Luther Lineberger was graduated from Catawba College in 1957 (A.B.) and from the University of Minnesota in 1959 (M.A.), where he also did additional graduate work as a McKnight Fellow, 1962-64. His "A Sometime Thing: A Drama in One Act" won a prize in the 1959 National Collegiate Playwrite Contest sponsored by Samuel French, Inc. Following a stint as an instructor in the Department of English at Pfeiffer College in 1962, Lineberger served as playwright in residence at the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, 1962-64. He returned to Pfeiffer as an associate professor in the Department of Drama, 1964-65.

Lineberger then moved to Atlanta, where he served as film critic for Atlanta Magazine, 1965-67, documentary film writer/television producer of Georgia Educational Television, 1967-68, and creative director for McRae and Bealer Advertising, 1968-70. In 1971, he became a free-lance writer. He is most recognized for his screen adaptation of the Devery Freeman novel, Father Sky, which was released on film in 1982 as Taps. Lineberger resides in Concord, N.C.