James Preston left school to help support his family during the Depression, after his father died in the early 1930s. He was a boy scout during his school years and subsequently had a long association with the Boy Scout movement, eventually becoming a scoutmaster. The survival skills learned there are an element of his writing for children.
In 1940 he joined the RAAF and served in Australia and New Guinea. His writing career began during the war years when he submitted short stories for RAAF publications.
Preston was an authority on axemanship and his first childrens book, Ring of the Axe, is about a young boy whose burning ambition is to become a champion axeman.
James Preston worked as a prison officer and PR consultant. In 1962 he represented Australia at a PEN conference in Manila.
