James Reel has written about classical music, jazz and offbeat people and issues for The Arizona Daily Star since 1988. His more unusual features have covered the odd ways composers have died, the origins of theatrical superstitions, where to get a decent vegetarian meal, and what sorts of pipelines, tunnels, animals and corpses lie beneath Tucson's streets.
Before joining the Star, Reel worked 12 years at the University of Arizona's KUAT radio. Beginning as a lowly substitute classical announcer, he worked up through the organization as full-time morning announcer, program producer and ultimately, music director. Besides music performance programs, Reel also produced a series devoted to issues concerning aging, and, for KUAT-TV's ``Arizona Illustrated,'' he co-produced and hosted local history segments called ``Territorial Typesetters.''
He has provided program notes for Arthur Weisberg's contemporary music group Ensemble 21, contributed reviews and features to Musical America and other publications, and is a columnist for the record magazine Fanfare.
An Arizona native and graduate of the University of Arizona, Reel holds degrees in French and library science.
He received a 1991 Arizona Press Club award for ``The Timid Soul's Guide to Classical Music,'' originally serialized in The Arizona Daily Star.