Ronald M. James

Ronald M. "Ron" James (1955- ) became the administrator of the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office in 1983, retiring in 2012. He is the author or co-author of fifteen books including The Roar and the Silence: A History of Virginia City and the Comstock Lode (1998), and his roughly three dozen articles have appeared in six countries. His publications deal with history, folklore, archaeology, and architectural history. James is a historian and folklorist, with degrees in both fields from the University of Nevada, Reno, where he lectured for over three decades. He was the nation's I.T.T. Fellow to Ireland in 1981-1982, studying folklore at the national archives. In 2014, he was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. In 2015, the Mining History Association presented James with the Rodman Paul Award for Outstanding Contributions to Mining History. James is a two-time winner of an Award of Merit from the American Association of State and Local History. James was elected as a bard of the Gorsedh Kernow in 2016 in recognition of contributions to Cornish immigration and folklore studies. His book, The Folklore of Cornwall: The Oral Tradition of a Celtic Nation (2018), is his most recent.