William
E. "Bill" James, 65, Harrisonville, Missouri, died Wednesday, November 6, 2013 at the Kansas City Hospice House in Kansas City, Missouri. Memorial services will be held at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, November 9, 2013 at the United Methodist Church in Harrisonville, Missouri with visitation from 3:00-4:30 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to Kansas City Hospice House.
Bill served as publisher of the Daily Star-Journal since November 2007. He was publisher of the Cass County Democrat-Missourian in Harrisonville from 1985 to 2000.
During a career of 40 years, Bill served in a variety of leadership positions for the newspapers of Missouri. He was president of the Missouri Press Association (1998), president of the Northwest Missouri Press Association (1990), president of the Missouri Advertising Managers’ Association (1986), and president of the Democratic Editors of Missouri (1981). He served as a director of the National Newspaper Association (1999-2001). He was inducted into the MPA Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2001.
