James Snyder was born on 3 November 1918 at Narberth, Pennsylvania. His father, Oscar, was a physician and founder of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathy and his mother was Aline Ambrose Cantwell, the daughter of a physician. Oscar Snyder was responsible for the ruling by Congress that in the USA osteopaths had first to have medical qualifications. After training in the Medical College of Philadelphia, he obtained licences to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and in the whole of the USA in medicine and surgery in 1945. Part of his training was at the Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital, Philadelphia, where he obtained prizes in obstetrics and gynaecology. In England he became assistant to Sir Charles Read, the President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and contributed a chapter to his textbook. On 1 April 1958 he married Barbara Guy in Paris. They had no children. His hobbies were swimming, skiing, building and farming. He retired to live in the South of France and died on 24 October 1995.