Nantz's first book, "Always By My Side – A Father's Grace and a Sports Journey Unlike Any Other", was released in May 2008. Nantz tells personal stories from football, basketball, and golf, and how he has met people along the way who remind him of the virtues his father instilled in him. The foreword to the book was written by one of his father figures, friend and frequent golf partner, former President George H.W. Bush. Nantz's father, Jim Nantz Jr., died in 2008 after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease; he was treated at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas. In January 2011, Jim Nantz and The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, launched the Nantz National Alzheimer Center. The mission of the Center is to improve care and treatment for patients with Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research and the investigation of its causes, including the role of concussions and other past neurological trauma.