James Warren McClure was born on September 25, 1919, in Clairton, Pennsylvania to James H. and Elva Hageman McClure. He graduated from Ohio University in August, 1940, with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce degree and from Northwestern University in August, 1941, with an MBA. In 1942 McClure married Helen Oppegard, a fellow Northwestern student. After serving with the U.S. Navy during World War II, McClure entered the newspaper business as an advertising executive and business manager for the Grand Forks (ND) Herald. Early in 1952 McClure began seeking a position as a newspaper executive that offered the opportunity to obtain equity and eventually to become its publisher. By July, 1952 he had joined the Burlington (VT) Free Press, and in 1961 became the newspaper's major owner and publisher. Following a 1952 divorce, McClure married Lois Howe Ricker of Burlington in 1954. In 1971, McClure sold his newspaper holdings (including the Chambersburg (PA) Public Opinion, purchased in 1964) to Gannett Co. Inc. The sale made McClure Gannett's largest individual stockholder. At the same time he became Gannett's first vice president/ marketing and was elected to the board of directors. McClure retired from Gannett in 1975, but continued to serve on their board. He then started McClure Media Marketing Motivation Company, which conducted marketing and motivational seminars throughout the country and Canada, and developed the Ener/Gem Success System. The McClures began making substantial financial donations to major educational, health, and community organization projects in the early 1970s, and have continued to do so to the present. The McClures' philosophy of "giving with warm hands" is rooted in their religious faith. "Just as it is in God's nature to give to all of us," McClure writes in his Journal, "it is our belief that everyone is responsible to give to others. We feel that good works by Christian believers are the result of faith and that a true sharing of time, talent and treasures can be the key to abundant lives, satisfaction and joy."