Herald-Dispatch
photo/Lori Wolfe

Jim retired in 2004 from The Herald-Dispatch, where he was a reporter and editor for more than 40 years. He is now senior public information specialist at the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing.

A native of Huntington, he attended Bethany College at Bethany, W.Va., and is a graduate of Marshall University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and a master's degree in English.

Active in community affairs, he's a board member with the United Way of the River Cities, Goodwill Industries, the Huntington Area Food Bank, the Tri-State Area Boy Scout Council, the Friends of the Cabell County Public Library, the Marshall University Library Associates and the West Virginia Faculty Merit Foundation.

Photo by Steve Christo

Also, recently the Cabell County Public Library's genealogy research center was renamed "the James E. Casto Local History Room" to honor Jim for his many years of service to the library and his years of serving as president of the Friends of the Library. In addition, it was also in recognition of his many books and publications about the local area.

Jim has taught both journalism and English as a part-time instructor at Marshall and has worked (on loan from The Herald-Dispatch) as a member of the editorial page staff at USA TODAY.

Costumed as Collis P. Huntington, he appears at civic clubs, schools and other groups in a first-person program that offers a glimpse of the famed rail tycoon's life and times.

He's a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Society of Newspaper columnists. In addition to his newspaper work, he's written more than a 150 freelance articles for magazines and newspapers and is the author of five books.

On his retirement, Marshall presented him with the John Marshall Medal of Civic Responsibility in recognition of his services to the university and the community.

 

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