Hall of Fame

Membership in the Hall of Fame is the highest honor GWA can bestow on a member whose life and career has materially reflected and advanced the objectives of GWA. Hall of Fame candidates are nominated by the membership, recommended by the Honors Committee and elected by the Board of Directors. Members of the Hall of Fame are excused from dues. Self-nominations are welcome.

2018 Honoree

James A. Baggett

James Augustus Baggett sold his first written work to The Missouri Conservationist. a DNR magazine, while attending Journalism School at the University of Missouri in 1981. The article was on dendrochronology, the science of tree rings, and the oldest living tree in the state of Missouri, an Eastern red cedar still thriving on the banks of the Current River. The former Garden Editor of Better Homes & Gardens, James has been a magazine editor and writer for more than 30 years, most recently as senior editor at Garden Gate magazine. Until 2017, James was the editor of Country Gardens as well as all of the Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications gardening titles, including—for 2017—Gardening for Birds & Butterflies, Best of Country Gardens, Outdoor Living, Vintage Garden Style, Mini Gardens & Terrariums, Easy Garden Projects, Garden Sheds & Retreats, From Garden to Plate, and Garden Basics. James was formerly editor of Perennials and Nature’s Garden magazines for Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications, and the former executive editor of Country Living Gardener and Rebecca’s Garden for Hearst Publications. James is also the author of Flower Arranging, a Best of Martha Stewart Living Book, the former garden editor of American Homestyle & Gardening, and the founding managing editor of Elle Decor. James started his career as the editor of Scholastic Inc.’s Science World, a classroom science magazine read by 8 million students every-other week during the school year, where he honed his craft writing and explaining the science behind subjects such as dinosaurs, sociable spiders, carnivorous plants, and the Chernobyl disaster. James has appeared on The Today Show, MSNBC, and HGTV—and he’s received numerous awards for his work, including the 2017 Media Award Gold Medal of Achievement for Best Overall Magazine from the Garden Writers Association and he’s the 2015 recipient of the B.Y. Morrison Communication Award presented by the American Horticultural Society.

Past Inductees