James Patrick Kelly (born April 11, 1951 in Mineola, New York) is an American science fiction author who began publishing in the 1970s and remains to this day an important figure in the science fiction field.Kelly made his first fiction sale in 1975, and has since been a major force in the science fiction field. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 1972, with a B.A. in English Literature.