James Buckley Jr., better known as Jim, is a longtime sports writer who was at the Independent in the ‘90s. He now writes children’s nonfiction and is the founder of Bloomsday, a celebration of the novel Ulysses.
How did you end up in Santa Barbara and writing for the Independent? My wife, Patty Kelley, and I moved here in 1993 when she got a job at the (sadly) now-defunct Islands Magazine. I became the first-ever sports editor of the Independent. (I must still be part of the extended Indy family, since we still get invited to the Christmas party.) Now I write nonfiction books for children; ask about them at Chaucer’s!
What has been your favorite sports story you’ve written? In 1994, I wrote an Indy cover story about the Santa Barbara Foresters baseball team. I fell in love and have been volunteering with them ever since. We have won 10 national championships and sent 62 players to the majors. See you at Pershing Park!
Tell us a little bit about the Bloomsday event happening on June 16 at the James Joyce Pub. As the first Indy pickleball writer/baseball guy/Bloomsday producer in human history, I invite everyone to join fellow Indy vet DJ Palladino and me at 5 p.m. on Friday, June 16, at the James Joyce Pub. Local actors and authors will read from Joyce’s Ulysses as part of a worldwide Bloomsday celebration of that great novel. We’ll have Irish music from the Folk Orchestra of Santa Barbara, tasty treats, and, of course, amazing words.