List of 1632 Characters (fictional) - James Nichols

James Nichols is an African-American doctor and was a visitor to Grantville during the wedding of Tom Simpson and Rita Stearns. He was named the New United States Chief of health, medical care and sanitation in the days of the Grantville Emergency Committee rule, and was a member of the Emergency Committee Cabinet. A combat veteran of the Vietnam War via the marines, Nichols was from the rough side of town in Chicago's Black ghetto. He accompanies Stearns and Police Chief Dan Frost immediately after the Ring of Fire, and his presence indubitably led to the survival of several persons who would have perished, including Chief Frost and heart attack victim Balthazar Abrabanel. He later takes parts in many minor sequences, including the introduction of the Stone Family in the Ring of Fire story "To Dye For".