James Waine Carpenter, Sr., was born and raised on Chincoteague Island, Virginia. After a career in the United States Coast Guard, he returned to his island home to work in the oyster business and later for NASA. His interest in the preservation and documentationof the island's many cemeteries inspired From Tears to Memories, the complete listings and locations of grave markers throughout the island, as well as resident ancestors buried on the nearby mainland.

Realizing the increasing number of island residents laid to rest on the mainland, he continued his research and completed From Tears To Memories II, documenting the gravesites of the John W. Taylor and Downing Cemeteries in North Accomack County, Virginia.