Jim Rowlands is both the author and main character of Cache Lake Country. Originally a timber company supervisor, Jim was on a timber survey mission in Northern Maine when he came upon Cache Lake. It immediately struck him as the most picturesque lake he had ever seen, and he sees it as the perfect archetype of the forest scenery of his youth. He returned quickly after his first visit, and when his company asked him to live there permanently as supervisor, he eagerly obliged.