Biography
James Pagett was born on an island in 1969. His father, a native North Carolinian, was a career federal civil servant and his mother was a certified court translator originally from Puerto Rico. The island of James’ birth was Manhattan in New York City. At the age of five and midway through kindergarten, his parents bought their first house in the suburbs and moved James and his three sisters to yet another island. This time Long Island.
Growing up in Hicksville, the hometown of famed recording artist and songwriter Billy Joel, James’ quintessential all-American childhood is filled with memories of HBA Little League baseball; a Newsday paper route by bicycle; Crusader youth football; pick-up basketball on his driveway and Holy Family basketball in the winter; Roosevelt Field Mall; Levittown Pool and summer excursions to Yankee Stadium and Jones Beach.
After finishing Dutch Lane Elementary School, James’ family moved to Westbury, NY. He then graduated high school from Friends Academy in Locust Valley, NY where he gained a quality Quaker education and an admiration for Long Island’s beautiful “gold coast”. James’ love of the Atlantic coastline began at a young age and continues to this day in his adopted home state of South Carolina, where he has resided for nearly thirty years.
James graduated from the University of South Carolina with a B.A. degree in English. He was introduced to the love of his life, Frances Clark, at a USC college hangout called The Elbow Room, during a Hootie & The Blowfish performance in 1991. They married five years later and will soon celebrate their 22nd wedding anniversary. James wrote the lyrics to a song about the night they met titled, I’ll Take My Chances, which was incorporated into The Raine Forest.
In 1997, James was hired by Edens & Avant, one of the largest owners of grocery anchored shopping centers in the United States, and was responsible for leasing a portfolio of assigned properties. It was through this job that James was introduced to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), the leading trade association for the shopping center industry, where he had the opportunity to get involved and take on a number of leadership positions. Over the years, James served as ICSC Carolinas State Director; ICSC South Carolina Government Relations Chair; ICSC South Carolina Operations Chair; and 2003 ICSC Carolinas Idea Exchange Planning Committee Chairman.
On the morning of September 11th, 2001, James was in Kilmarnock, Virginia attending the funeral of a college friend who was tragically killed in a hunting accident in Canada. The trauma of that awful day, dealing with two tragedies at once, had a profound impact on him. In 2006, he wrote an essay titled, The Day One of the Towers Fell…and then 9/11 Happened, which described the events of 9/11 from his unique perspective, as well as the raw emotions swirling inside of him at that time.
In 2007, James founded his company, Palmstar Real Estate Investments, and in 2008, James went back to school on the weekends and earned an MBA from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler Business School. Around 2012, he began writing opinion pieces and long letters that have been published in The State, South Carolina’s largest newspaper.
When not working or writing in Columbia, James enjoys quality time with Frances, their two beautiful daughters, dear friends and family. And given the fact that America’s Newest Storyteller was born on an island and raised on another island, it should come as no surprise that James loves spending time at his favorite beach in South Carolina- Sullivan’s Island.
