Jim Thompson

James Harrison Wilson Thompson (March 21, 1906 – disappeared March 26, 1967; declared dead 1974) was an American businessman who helped revitalize the Thai silk industry in the 1950s and 1960s. At the time of his disappearance he was one of the most famous Americans living in Asia. Time magazine claimed he "almost singlehanded(ly) saved Thailand's vital silk industry from extinction". Early life Jim Thompson was born in Greenville, Delaware in 1906. He was the youngest of five children of Henry and Mary Wilson Thompson. His father was a wealthy textile manufacturer; his mother was the daughter of James Harrison Wilson (1837–1925), a noted Union general during the American Civil War. Thompson spent his early years of education at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He graduated from Princeton University in 1928, and represented the United States in the 6-Metre Sailing event at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Post-graduate studies followed at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Architecture, but he did not complete his degree at this institution due to his weakness in calculus. From 1931 to 1940, he practiced in New York City with Holden, McLaughlin & Associates, designing homes for the East Coast rich. During this period, he led an active social life and sat on the board of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.