OT: Detroit radio legend Dick Purtan retiring
Kathi
Purtan, WOMC Call It Quits
POSTED: Thursday, February 11, 2010
UPDATED: 6:33 pm EST February 11, 2010
DETROIT -- Detroit radio legend Dick Purtan announced Thursday morning
that he is retiring.
Purtan has worked in local radio for 45 years. He has hosted the
morning show at WOMC since April 1996. He said he has loved the job
with all his heart, but the passion is not there anymore.
He said he will spend the next two months doing radio like he has
been, and then he looks forward to throwing away the alarm clock.
He did joke that he was waiting to retire until the Detroit Lions won
the Super Bowl, but he was getting tired of waiting.
Purtan's last day will be March 26.
Purtan's co-host Jackie Purtan held back tears at the thought of not
working with her father everyday.
"It's hard to see him go," said Jackie Purtan.
When he was asked what it's like to be a legend in the community, he
laughed and said, "It's like being old."
He is known for his on-air commitment to professionalism and his
off-air commitment to his community.
"Detroit and southeast Michigan have always given back," Purtan said.
Purtan said he will never give up his charity work, but he plans on
doing a bit less.
Purtan is heavily involved with the Salvation Army's Bed and Bread
club, which helps feed and gives shelter to people in the community
and provides assistance to get them back on their feet.
Over the years, Purtan's radiothons for the Salvation Army have raised
more than $22 million for the organization.
The 23rd Annual Dick Purtan Radiothon will be Feb. 26 at Oakland Mall.
In 2003, Dick was inducted into the Michigan Association of
Broadcasters Hall of Fame and in November 2004, he was inducted into
the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago.
In April 2006, Dick was inducted into the National Association of
Broadcasting Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.
Only one person in the radio industry is inducted each year.
Purtan has also had some courageous battles in his personal life.
Purtan was diagnosed with prostate cancer over 15 years ago. He is now
cancer-free. Although, it was just years later that his wife Gail was
diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
Both of them were very vocal during their fight, in hopes of raising
awareness about cancer.
The two formed the Purtan Family Ovarian Cancer Research Fund at
Karmanos Cancer Institute and the Purtan Family Ovarian Cancer
Research Foundation.
The two funds have raised more than a million dollars for research
efforts.
http://www.clickondetroit.com/community/22530950/detail.html
Jim Macey
> Dick Purtan Says Goodbye To WOMC
> Purtan, WOMC Call It Quits
>
>
>
Jim...in New Mexico
Bryan Styble
I spent six years of my career on the Detroit radio airwaves (1993-98)
during the Purtan era, and while I always enjoyed his work, I never
could understand his dominance. While he was certainly listenable,
little in his act (or his stable of regulars' acts) struck me as
original, much less cutting-edge.
Accordingly, I was shocked when, while at WJR during the upheaval in
the wake of Joseph Priestly McCarthy's untimely death, that Purtan was
considered the odds-on favorite to replace the legend. As many people
know, that honor eventually went to the always-elegant-sounding Paul
W. Smith.
But of course, there is something to be said for success, especially
decades-long dominance on the FM band. And for that, I salute Mr.
Purtan upon his retirement.
Existentially,
BRYAN STYBLE/San Diego
Michael O'Connor
I was in Detroit from 1994-97; what station were you on?
Bryan Styble
> I was in Detroit from 1994-97; what station were you on?>>>>>>>>>
I was on WJR doing midnight-4am (1993-96), and then also-ran WPON
doing midnight-2am (1996-98). Thanks for asking!
Existentially,
BRYAN STYBLE/San Diego
islanders
wrote:
Let me guess, your air name was long winded bastard.
BobF
[Default] On Sat, 13 Feb 2010 09:38:13 -0800 (PST), Bryan Styble
<radioacti...@gmail.com> magnanimously proffered:
>>
>> I was in Detroit from 1994-97; what station were you on?>>>>>>>>>
>
>I was on WJR doing midnight-4am (1993-96), and then also-ran WPON
>doing midnight-2am (1996-98). Thanks for asking!
AKA the *Graveyard Shift*? I did midnight to 4am gig on WROZ-AM in
Evansville, Indiana for a brief time. The station had a first floor
window that overlooked a major corner in downtown E'town. The local
larrikins would race by in their cars and pickups waving, giving me
the finger or mooning. Occasionally, the girls would stand up in the
convertibles or pickup beds and wave their bare breast in my direction
and I would respond with something I thought was clever on-air.
My main enemy was the wire services teletype machines that lived in a
small soundproofed room the size of a large closet. Since I was the
only one in the building during those wee hours, I had to put on a
single from the top-40 (yes ... we played 45's and LP's) and run from
the studio through the newsroom to the wire service room, tear off the
paper from each machine, quickly scan through the wire reports, tear
off the relevant news update and somehow cobble together a brief
hourly news report before the music stopped and the second had reached
the top.
Unfortunately, if you were in too much of a hurry and tore off the
paper incorrectly, the remaining paper in those horrible, noisy,
clattering machines would jam, so the readout for the next hour's
bulletin would be a big blur and you'd get the ink all over your
hands, with nowhere to wipe them before you got back to the studio
except your shirt.
But the bare breasts more than made up for it.
--
> There is something comforting in the idea that you get
> crazier and crazier each day. Although I must say that
> I do fear for your neighbors.
Proves yet again you are out of your mind--what remains of it.
They have nothing to fear from me.
It's vice versa, for a couple of them.
I'm a peaceful guy. (Unlike you.)
- From "The Sayings of Roy"