RIPLEY, W.Va. -- William C. Blizzard, a newspaper reporter/photographer, longtime labor activist and "living conduit" for West Virginia history, died Monday in Jackson General Hospital in Ripley. He was 92.

"When Miners March," a book filled with previously published articles Blizzard wrote about the birth and growth of the United Mine Workers in West Virginia, was published in 2004. The articles were first published in Labor's Daily, a nationally circulated newspaper based in Charleston.

Blizzard's book discusses early coal mining in towns near Wheeling and in the Kanawha Valley in the early 19th century, as well as the founding of the UMW in 1890 and struggles led by John L. Lewis in the 1930s and 1940s.

"Bill Blizzard wrote the definitive story about the struggles of coal miners in Southern West Virginia to win justice for themselves and their families through the UMWA," Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers, said Tuesday. "He wasn't just a bystander, he was there," Roberts said.

Blizzard's father, Bill Blizzard, was a miner who led the "Red Neck Army" during the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921, during the West Virginia Mine Wars. After the historic march from Marmet over Blair Mountain into Logan County, the senior Blizzard was tried in Harpers Ferry for treason. He and his co-defendants were all acquitted.

Ken Sullivan, executive director of the West Virginia Humanities Council, said of the younger Blizzard, "Bill was a legend. He was a living conduit into an important period of West Virginia's history."

Wess Harris, whose Appalachian Community Services Press published Blizzard's book, said Tuesday, "Bill was a class act and I really wanted to work with him. He could be a taskmaster and he always insisted on excellence. We lost a really class-act kind of guy."

RIPLEY, W.Va. -- William C. Blizzard, a newspaper reporter/photographer, longtime labor activist and "living conduit" for West Virginia history, died Monday in Jackson General Hospital in Ripley. He was 92.

"When Miners March," a book filled with previously published articles Blizzard wrote about the birth and growth of the United Mine Workers in West Virginia, was published in 2004. The articles were first published in Labor's Daily, a nationally circulated newspaper based in Charleston.

Blizzard's book discusses early coal mining in towns near Wheeling and in the Kanawha Valley in the early 19th century, as well as the founding of the UMW in 1890 and struggles led by John L. Lewis in the 1930s and 1940s.

"Bill Blizzard wrote the definitive story about the struggles of coal miners in Southern West Virginia to win justice for themselves and their families through the UMWA," Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers, said Tuesday. "He wasn't just a bystander, he was there," Roberts said.

Blizzard's father, Bill Blizzard, was a miner who led the "Red Neck Army" during the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921, during the West Virginia Mine Wars. After the historic march from Marmet over Blair Mountain into Logan County, the senior Blizzard was tried in Harpers Ferry for treason. He and his co-defendants were all acquitted.

Ken Sullivan, executive director of the West Virginia Humanities Council, said of the younger Blizzard, "Bill was a legend. He was a living conduit into an important period of West Virginia's history."

Wess Harris, whose Appalachian Community Services Press published Blizzard's book, said Tuesday, "Bill was a class act and I really wanted to work with him. He could be a taskmaster and he always insisted on excellence. We lost a really class-act kind of guy."

Blizzard graduated from West Virginia University in 1939 and attended Columbia University's School of Journalism after returning from World War II.

Over his long career, Blizzard also took pictures ranging from aerial photographs during World War II to photographs of historic West Virginians.

After serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1948, Blizzard returned to his family's home in Winfield and began writing anonymously for Labor's Daily in 1952.

He also wrote for The Nation magazine and United Mine Workers Journal, and worked as a feature writer and photographer for The Charleston Gazette for 12 years.

Blizzard lived in Beckley in the late 1970s and early 1980s, before returning to live in an old trailer house near Winfield.

A memorial in Blizzard's honor will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the Cultural Center at the state Capitol Complex. Harris will be among the speakers and songwriter Elaine Purkey will perform. After the memorial, Blizzard will be buried in South Charleston next to his father, who died in 1958.

Reach Paul J. Nyden at pjny...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5164.