James Timothy Como (December 23, 1946 – November 24, 2025) was an American academic who was professor emeritus of rhetoric and public communicatio. He joined the faculty at York College of the City University of New York (CUNY), in Jamaica, Queens in 1968, where he founded the Speech Communication discipline (writing its curriculum and coordinating it for forty years), and was also chairman and Professor in the Department of Performing and Fine Arts.[1]
Como published in National Review, The New Criterion and in The Wilson Quarterly, among other venues, on subjects ranging from C. S. Lewis, to rhetorical theory, literature and Peruvian culture. In addition to his books on C. S. Lewis, he published another seven books that are collections of essays, short stories, poems, a folk novel for children, and a summary of communication concepts and techniques emphasizing conversation (all on Amazon.com).[2]
A founding member of the New York C. S. Lewis Society (1969), Como served as an advisor and board member of a number of organizations and journals, both before and after his retirement.
Como died from heart failure in Bucharest, Romania, on November 24, 2025, after having given one of the keynote addresses at the "C. S. Lewis and Kindred Spirits" conference in Iași. He was 78.[3][4]
Books about C. S. Lewis
- James Como, C. S. Lewis at the Breakfast Table and Other Reminiscences. New edition, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992. ISBN 0-15-623207-3
- James Como, Branches to Heaven: The Geniuses of C. S. Lewis, Spence, 1998. ISBN 978-1890626013
- James Como, Remembering C. S. Lewis (3rd ed. of C. S. Lewis at the Breakfast Table), Ignatius, 2006. ISBN 1586171089
- James Como, Why I Believe in Narnia: 33 Reviews & Essays on the Life & Works of C.S. Lewis, Winged Lion Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0972322188
- James Como, C. S. Lewis: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2019. ISBN 978-0198828242
- James Como, Mystical Perelandra: My Lifelong Reading of C.S. Lewis and His Favorite Book, Winged Lion Press, 2022. ISBN 978-1935688297
References
- ^ "Curriculum Vitae," James Como website, accessed 29 July 2023.
- ^ "Writing," James Como website, accessed 29 July 2023.
- ^ "News", New York C.S. Lewis Society website, accessed 5 December 2025.
- ^ "James Timothy Como". Legacy. Retrieved December 14, 2025.
External links
- James Como website
- York College faculty webpage
  | This biography of an American academic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |
 | This article about a United States writer of non-fiction is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |
