Oklahoma native James R. Bellatti moved with his family to Stillwater in 1941, graduated from high school in 1945, and then attended the College of Business Administration at Oklahoma State University. He became general manager of KSPI and KSPI-FM in Stillwater in 1951, was named president of the local YMCA in 1958 and became editor of the Stillwater News Press, a company originally founded by his father, in 1968. Bellatti was the president of the Oklahoma Broadcasters Association and the Oklahoma Press Association and was chairman of Oklahoma’s Emergency Broadcast System. He was president of the United States YMCA organization before becoming vice-president (1981-1985) and ultimately president of the World Alliance of YMCAs in 1985.