Jim is a former academic who specializes in helping leaders in business, academia, government, and the non-profit sector to translate their expertise into bestsellers for maximum impact. He does the same for journalists and writers of memoir and narrative non-fiction.

Since founding the agency 37 years ago he has been privileged to earn the trust of and represent extremely talented people in many fields. His clients include football great Tom Brady, legendary investor Ray Dalio, Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, former American Express CEO Ken Chenault, cognitive scientist Annie Duke, social psychologist Robert Cialdini, former Stanford University President and current Alphabet Chairman John Hennessy, former Yale President Peter Salovey, Finland’s current President Alexander Stubb, Silicon Valley’s Democratic Congressional Representative Ro Khanna, former Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., Nobel Laureate in Economics Al Roth, negotiation expert William Ury, former monk Jay Shetty, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, and world-renowned mentalist Oz Pearlman.

Beyond selling projects for top dollar, Jim serves as a “book sherpa,” guiding his clients through the entire publishing process. As the author of seven books, he knows firsthand how hard it is to come up with the right idea, even harder to write it. Having appeared on most of the major television and radio shows – including Oprah, Today, GMA, and NPR – and written over 100 magazine articles, he knows what it takes to promote a creative work. And having mentored many first-time authors, he knows what it takes to help them build an entire career. As his client Scott Galloway says, “I never would have written a single book, let alone five, if not for Jim Levine.”

Jim is known throughout the publishing community for his integrity, energy, and engagement in helping his clients create their best possible work. In their own words: “Until Jim Levine, I had no idea that a literary agent could be so good.” “He adds value to all parts of the engagement both before and after a deal is signed.” “Special thanks to Jim Levine for your humility and insistence on excellence, or as my wife says, for being a ‘humble butt-kicker.’” In his November 24, 2023, interview for the How Leaders Lead podcast, Jim responded to host David Novak’s questions about his approach: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-leaders-lead-with-david-novak/id1223803642?i=

Jim’s career reflects his diverse interests. He taught preschool in Oakland, California and served as founding director of a comprehensive childcare program in the second largest housing project in Massachusetts. He developed a software productivity program that was runner-up for the Software Publishing Association’s Most Innovative Product in 1986 and was executive producer for a two-hour PBS show, Fatherhood USA. Immediately before establishing LGR, he taught at Wellesley College and spent almost a decade as Vice President at the Bank Street College of Education in New York City, where he developed a wide range of book, magazine, audio, video, and software products.

Jim graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude from Amherst College, winning Woodrow Wilson, Fulbright, and Ford Foundation Fellowships. He holds two advanced degrees in English Literature from UC Berkeley, where he specialized in Shakespeare and modern literary criticism, and a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he specialized in child development and social policy.

Jim’s non-profit work as founding director of The Fatherhood Project®, a 20-year-long foundation-supported initiative to increase men’s involvement in childrearing in all segments of society, has won national recognition. In 1984, Esquire magazine selected Jim as one of the “men and women under 40 who are changing America.” In 1997, Working Mother magazine selected him as one of the “top 25 men in America who make a difference in the lives of working mothers.” In 1998, The Wall Street Journal selected Jim’s Working Fathers: New Strategies for Balancing Work and Family, as one of the best work-life books of the year. He served as a consultant to Vice President Al Gore in developing the bi-partisan federal fatherhood initiative.

Jim is a voracious reader of fiction and non-fiction and passionate about his hobbies: golf, photography, travel, and listening to music of all sorts, especially jazz. He is the married father of author Jessica Bacal, who teaches at Smith College (www.jessbacal.com) and Joshua Levine, a Helsinki-based jazz musician who specializes in Latin Jazz (Instagram: cuartetoguataca) and also composes and performs music for children (www.joshlevinemusic.com).

Jim acquires and develops projects in a broad range of areas, including business, science, narrative non-fiction, memoir, social and political issues, psychology, health, spirituality, parenting, and more. He loves his work and is especially proud of the culture of growth at LGR, where most people have been on the team for 20+ and 30+ years.