A music lover, Rust mixed up shows with interviews with artists like James Brown and Miles Davis, who was also a close friend.

He interviewed everyone from Joe DiMaggio to Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson and one of his idols, sportscaster Red Barber.

His first book, the controversially titled Get that Nigger off the Field, published in 1976, explores the rocky beginnings of blacks in baseball.

Other books include Joe Louis, My Life (1978), a collaboration with the Brown Bomber; Recollections of a Baseball Junkie (1985) in which Rust waxes poetically about his life; Art Rust's Illustrated History of the Black Athlete which celebrates greats such as Jessie Owens and Althea Gibson; and Darryl with Darryl Strawberry (1992).

Devastated by the loss, for years after, Rust delivered a "Goodnight Edna baby," at the end of each "Sportstalk" broadcast.