Longtime Radio Series Writer, Jim Long, Dies in Roseburg, Oregon

Jefferson Public Radio’s As It Was volunteers are deeply saddened to report that their esteemed colleague, Dr. James S. Long, died on Jan. 7, in Roseburg, Ore. He regularly contributed As It Was stories for years, even writing three of this month’s episodes while battling cancer. Born in 1935, Jim attended high school in Hood River, Ore. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agriculture education at Oregon State University and a doctorate in adult education at the University of Wisconsin. Jim married Barbara Sax in 1958. Jim spent two years in the Army, including Korea, before teaching vocational agriculture at South Eugene High School. He researched for two years in Nigeria for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and spent 27 years at Washington State University with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative Extension and as a professor for an adult and continuing education master’s program. An evaluation specialist, Jim provided training for Oregon’s county extension agents. In Roseburg retirement, he served 33 non-profit organizations. The family is offering a public “Celebration of Jim’s Long Life” from 1:30-3:30 p.m. this Saturday, Jan. 23, at the Danny Lang Center of the Umpqua Community College in Roseburg. Sources: Long, Barbara, and Doranne Long. Personal e-mail interviews. 15 Jan. 2016.