Nobody told James that it was picture day. Fourth grade. So he did what any perfectly normal geek-kid would have done on that crisp autumn day: he wore his Styx t-shirt to school.

That photo of young James in a Styx shirt, proud as if he had any sense, is floating around somewhere. But he’d rather you didn’t have to see it. No, he’d rather you just hang out with him on Saturday afternoon for three hours – noon to 3, to be specific -when he has the unabashed pleasure of playing great music.

James first came to public radio 12 years ago as a commentator for “The Noon Report” on WFPL. That morphed into the creation of his own literary interview show, “On Second Thought,” which he hosted and produced for six years.

When WFPK’s beloved jazz guru Phil Bailey passed away in January of 2002, James was asked to take over the afternoon slot. He held that post for two years before moving up to morning drive man from January of 2004 to October of 2011.

James has been married to the same lovely woman for almost 20 years; he has two three children, two dogs, he collects anything related to Sherlock Holmes, he’s an ardent David Lynch fan, and he loves music; he is the Dumb Guy; he blogs about comically large things. And he has the greatest job in the world.

• Thing you probably didn’t know about him: He has written three novels – one of which he thinks is actually pretty good – but hasn’t shopped them to publishers. Someday.
• Artists on his desert-island compilation CD: Louis Armstrong, Rush, Procol Harum, Pink Floyd, Neko Case, The Church, David Gray, the Cocteau Twins
• Contact James