Wilson Casey
In the modern age, most people turn to Google when they have a question.
Most people, however, aren’t Wilson Casey, who probably already has the answer and is armed with a roster of additional fun facts about the topic at the ready.
A Guinness World Record holder and one of the world’s foremost trivia aficionados, Casey has built a career out of curiosity.
“I’m just a nerd at heart,” says Casey. “I love researching and learning new things.”
Spartan Weekly readers know Casey from his Bible Trivia column, which is syndicated by King Features and has been running locally for longer than Casey could remember. Though the column’s reach was hurt by the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on newspapers across the country, at its peak it was published in over 500 papers nationwide.
Casey was born and raised in the Upstate and became a beloved public figure in the late 1990s and early 2000s as the host of “Trivia Fun,” a radio show on WKDY. The program was top rated in Spartanburg and fielded hundreds of calls each day.
It was at this time that Casey decided to go for a Guinness World Record for the longest radio quiz of all time. He correctly answered 3,333 trivia questions over the course of a 30-hour radio bombardment on January 9-10, 1999. It was estimated that 6,500 calls were fielded over the course of the record-setting show.
Setting the world record opened a number of doors for Casey, who has authored over 50 books with major publishers, including Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster.
One of his most memorable books, Bedlam on the West Virginia Rails, shared the life story of America’s last great train robber, who sought Casey out after hearing one of his live sets. Casey went on to spend three years interviewing Lu Ramsdell, whose gang stopped a 150-passenger train outside of Washington DC in 1949. Ramsdell had settled in Spartanburg after serving his prison sentence.
While meeting Ramsdell was certainly one of the most memorable connections to come from his live trivia events, Casey shares that getting to meet and interact with so many different people is one of his favorite parts of what he does. Curating a great environment at his sets is important to him, and seeing people laugh and enjoy a night with friends and family reminds him why he does what he does.
“It’s wholesome fun and entertainment,” he says. “Sure, we play trivia, but it’s about fun and frolic and comedy. I’m always telling corny jokes, and people love it. I had one guy say, you know, I didn’t want to take my wife and my son to a bar to play, but we can come out here and have fun, and hearing that kind of thing makes me feel really good.”
Casey’s career has taken him near and far, from local events all the way to national coverage. In 2002, he was flown out to Hollywood by NBC to appear on a world record holder’s edition of The Weakest Link, where he lasted 37 minutes before being voted off by fellow contestants.
According to Casey, the secret to how he’s been able to accomplish so much comes down to two things: prayer and structure.
“I start every day with prayer,” he says, “and then I look at my list of everything that I need to do that day. It keeps me structured. They say Guinness World Record holders are very goal-oriented and organized, and I fit that mold.”
Though he’s considered retirement, it’s clear that Casey is genuinely passionate about what he does — and still has a few projects up his sleeve.
“I’ve had a fun career,” he says. “All the things I’ve done, writing books, writing a column, doing trivia shows, they all play off each other and help each other. I’ve made a living doing something that I truly love, and not for one second have I ever considered it work. I’ll settle down. I want to write another book or two, and I’m dabbling in screenplays. But I’ve truly been blessed.”
If you’re interested in learning more about Casey’s work, you can purchase his books on Amazon, subscribe to his Patreon for daily trivia, or — if you’re lucky — catch one of his live shows right here in Spartanburg.
