The Marshall County Tribune welcomes Jay Langston to the position of General Manager and Editor.

A veteran of the publishing world, Langston and his wife Jacqueline built a home on a 118-acre farm in the Berlin area of northwest Marshall County in October 2015.

"My wife and I love living close to family here in Marshall County," he said. "I love living here and can't see living anywhere else."

"Now that work on the house is settled out, I'm ready to jump back into the publishing business," said Langston.

He will combine the roles of general manager and editor at the Tribune, having experience with both.

Langston has worked in publishing for 29 years, ever since graduating from the University of Memphis with a degree in journalism.

Beginning by editing and writing for hunting and fishing magazines, Langston moved to the National Wild Turkey Federation for 11 years.

Starting as assistant editor of "Turkey Call Magazine," he ended up leading the non-profit's communications and public relations efforts. Langston oversaw four national magazines, a television show, and a broad online presence.

He moved in 2001 to serve as publisher for Stoeger Publishing, a 75-year-old specialist in outdoor book titles, owned by Italian gun maker Beretta.

He expanded their offerings to include fiction and biography as well, placing a memoir of the escape of an American contractor in Iraq from insurgents on the "New York Times" Bestseller List in 2004.

During his four years, with an expansion of both titles and sales outlets, sales increased more than 250 percent.

The Fayetteville, N.C. native needed to get closer to home after his time in the Washington, D.C. area with Stoeger, and landed in Nashville as Director of Marketing for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

After accomplishing his goals at TWRA in developing long-term strategies for the Agency, Langston moved into consulting for the outdoor industry in both marketing and publishing and freelance writing on hunting and firearms.

Most recently, he has served as General Manager of the Franklin office of Whitman Publishing, where he also authored "America's 100 Greatest Guns" and the "Red Book of Gun Values" series.

Already grounded in Marshall County, Langston hopes to build on the Tribune's history as it moves into the future.

"There's a lot of history here, and I meet interesting people every day," Langston said. "I'm looking forward to sharing their stories, if they'll honor me with their time."