James S. Wilson; Ex-Photo Editor of The Times, Author

James Stewart Wilson, former Times photography editor and the author of two nonfiction books about American soldiers, has died at the age of 66.

Wilson died Friday of an aneurysm that led to heart failure at California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles, his family said.

During his 30-year tenure at The Times, Wilson held the position of news editor on the foreign, national and metro desks before he was selected to head the photography department in 1978. He held that position for 12 years before retiring in 1990.

Before joining The Times, Wilson worked as an assistant city editor at Pacific Stars & Stripes in Tokyo and as a news editor at the Oregonian in Portland.

He was known for his sense of humor, such as his unorthodox way of making photo assignments. Larry Armstrong, The Times’ current director of photography, said Wilson would have a photographer cut a deck of cards to determine which assignment he would handle.

“He was a real humanist,” said Armstrong, who worked under Wilson for more than a decade as a photographer and editor. “He seemed to always remember birthdays with a card or would be the one who showed up at the office with food for everyone.”

Wilson, an Army veteran who served during the Korean War, wrote “Retreat, Hell!” in 1989, about a brigade in the Korean War and “Sons of Bardstown” in 1994 about a group of young men from the same town who were all killed in the Vietnam War.

In his retirement, Wilson had completed the first draft of another book about early presidential campaigns that traveled by train.

Born in Pittsburgh in 1929, Wilson spent most of his early life in the East before being drafted into the Army in 1951.

A resident of North Hollywood, he is survived by his wife, Toshiko, and five grown children.