Born in Hamilton Township, NJ, Rust graduated from Nottingham High School before obtaining degrees in communications from Mercer County College (NJ) and the College of Mt. St. Vincent (NY). He worked as a reporter for New Jersey 101.5 FM before moving to Arizona, where he became the sports director/sportscaster for KYCA-AM. Rust published the military sci-fi novel "Dark Wings," the baseball-related books "Arizona All-Time Baseball Team" and "The Best Phillies Team Ever," the cryptozoological thriller "Sea Raptor," and several short stories, including "The Art of Fear" starring the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe, which appears in the anthology "Halloween Dances with the Dead."