James Roberts

Andrews County News

Hall of Fame Class of 2007

James Roberts, the consumate newspaper publisher from West Texas, was publisher of the Andrews County News and chair man of Roberts Publishing Company, owner of newspapers in Andrews, Azle, Brownfield, Copperas Cove, Gatesville, Granbury, Hereford, Lamesa, Quanah, Seminole, Springtown, Snyder and Vernon at the time of his death in December 1997. 

Roberts was president of Texas Press Association in 1980-81. His column, Drifting Sands, appeared on the front page of every edi tion of the Andrews County News for 47 years. 

He was a civic leader, instrumental in building a community hospital. He tried for a dozen years, unsuccessfully, to bring about the building of a short trunk railroad line to serve his community and stimulate manufacturing. He worked closely with the publishers with all of his newspapers to instill and foster a strong sense of civic duty and pride in the communities they served. 

He was born in Toyah in 1923 and moved to Andrews in 1934 at the height of the Depression with his parents. 

As a 12-year-old James Roberts hand-spiked type alongside his mother, Lena Brownlee Roberts, at the family weekly Andrews County News founded in 1934 by his father, Charles Roberts Sr. 

He attended Texas Tech and was drafted into the U.S. Army in World War II. Following a stint as a walking infantryman in the 45th Division, he was wounded and captured by enemy forces at Anzio. He was held as a prisoner of war of the Germans for 53 weeks. Roberts became editor of the family newspaper in 1950 following graduation from Baylor University. 

From 1970 to 1980, Roberts, as president of Roberts Publishing Company, put together a group of 15 daily and weekly newspapers in West Texas that provided the individual publisher with a strong incentive to put down tap roots and become involved in community affairs. 

He married Marie and they had two sons. 

He was president of West Texas Press Association in 1961-62. He was inducted into the inaugural Texas Newspaper Foundation Hall of Fame in 2007