James Turner: The Roller Man

“Integrity means everything to me. That’s what my father had taught me when I was a young’un. If anyone asked me how I would like to be remembered in the Roller hobby, I would say I want to be remembered as a man of integrity because if you don’t have integrity, you have nothing! After I am gone, if people say I flew some descent Rollers, that would be fine, too. But I would like to be remembered as man of integrity.” This was the reply of James Turner of Greenwood, South Carolina, when asked how he would want to be remembered among the Roller pigeons community.

I had heard a lot about James Turner way before I had a chance to meet him in person. I now feel like one of the luckiest Roller men in the world to be able call James a friend. He …show more content…
This is specifically true for the privileged individuals who had the pleasure of meeting him in person. His fame goes far beyond his role in the NBRC and his winning records; James is known to be one of the most generous Roller men in the hobby, graciously sharing his best stock and/or proven birds, especially with the beginners. If you ever have the opportunity to look at him when he gives you one his birds, you can see in his eyes that James is fueled by helping people and sharing his best birds with them; unlike most people in the hobby, he seems to get a unique satisfaction of helping others. “When you give somebody a bird, if you don’t feel hurt thinking you just gave one of your best performing birds to them, then you are not truly promoting the hobby and helping that person. Nothing gives me more pleasure than giving good birds to people and making them happy,” says James …show more content…
He enjoys showing and teaching beginners the way he breeds and flies his birds. He always reminds people that his way is not the only way, but that’s how he does it. He never tells anyone what they should do with their birds. He tells them, instead, what he would do, and he encourages them to make their own decisions at the end of the day. James also has a talent for simplifying pigeon genetics to anyone with any background knowledge and makes anyone understand how to reproduce certain colors. He also enjoys some deep conversations with veteran fliers about performance and conversations with scientists about color genetics. Over the years, I have witnessed fanciers of all ages and backgrounds really appreciate listening to his amassed wealth of knowledge and experience. When James speaks, everyone listens. Without a doubt, some pigeon breeders like James Turner are exceptionally knowledgeable about what they are doing in their backyard, but the best thing about guys like James is that they simply don’t mind sharing all of their experience with the public, which in turn puzzles some people. It is not unusual to meet some folks in the hobby saying: “These veterans don’t want to tell us everything because they don’t want us to beat them with their own birds; there must be something