James L. Shirley (or Jim as most people call him) is author of the new book Gluten-Free Diet: A Shopping Guide. He and his wife also have a gluten-free blog that highlights important topics in the gluten-free community and helps promote outstanding gluten-free products. 

Jim and his family first became aware of celiac disease and the gluten-free diet in 2007.  For months, they struggled with the visible signs of malnutrition and lethargy in their young daughter until she was diagnosed with celiac disease.

Jim also works in product development at Lipper - a company that collects data on mutual funds around the world. He's worked with Lipper products for over five years and prior to that he worked in Lipper's research department analyzing mutual funds.  He's been quoted in media such as Marketwatch, SmartMoney, and USA Today as a fund expert.

Since his daughters celiac diagnosis, Jim has spent many hours researching products in grocery stores.   He was inspired to find that many common products are gluten-free - even if they aren't labeled as such.  His work started out as a way to make his family's life easier when grocery shopping.

Jim decided to turn the work into a book with the hope that it would help other families shop for gluten-free groceries too.  The book is dedicated to his two beautiful children (below) and his wonderful wife.