James Stack was from the Midlothian Country Club, in Midlothian, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. He did not make the match play at the 1904 Olympic golf tournament, shooting 213 to place =66th in qualifying. Stack did not participate in the consolation flights. Stack was fairly wealthy, having earned a fortune during his career in advertising, and owned a farm in Chicago where he raised ponies for polo, another sport that was of interest to him. He lived his later life in Hollywood, where he became well-known in sporting circles there. Among the pall bearers at his funeral was Edgar Rice Burroughs.