James B. Pond was born in Allegany County, New York. First apprenticed to a printer, he became a journalist, and worked at several newspapers. During the Civil War he served in the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry and was commissioned major at the end of the conflict. He joined the Boston Lyceum Bureau of lecture manager James Redpath, and bought out Redpath’s share of the business in 1875. Pond opened his own business in 1879. He managed SLC’s 1884–85 tour of public readings with George Washington Cable, and made the arrangements for SLC’s 1895–96 lecture trip around the world, accompanying the Clemens family across North America during the initial phase of the tour. Over the next years Pond made lavish offers for further tours, which SLC declined. Pond retailed his memories of celebrities in his book Eccentricities of Genius (1900).