James R. Walker

Dr. James R. (Jim) Walker began his career as the producer/host of a daily television program at Penn State University's PBS station. His Ph.D. is in Communication Studies from the University of Iowa. After teaching as a graduate student at Penn State and Iowa, Walker started his professorial career at the University of Northern Iowa, moving to the University of Memphis for ten years, and then to Saint Xavier University where he is an Emeritus Professor of Communication. He is a past Executive Director of the International Association for Communication and Sport. Walker has written about baseball and the electronic media for four decades, authoring six books and dozens of scholarly articles. His most recent books are Center Field Shot: A History of Baseball on Television (with Robert V. Bellamy), Crack of the Bat: A History of Baseball on the Radio, and Red Barber: The Life and Legacy of a Broadcasting Legend (with Judith R. Hiltner), all published by the University of Nebraska Press. Walker enjoys playing fantasy baseball (with considerable success he might, and does, add).