Jim Garrison

My radio career began because I used to spend considerable amounts of time driving around town in the car I spent the better of two years working to buy. I worked the late shift as a dishwasher or cook at a small restaurant and would wind down after a hectic night by propping my elbow outside the driver’s side window with my favorite radio station blaring through the antiquated speakers of my old Pontiac. The disc jockey…that’s what they were called back then…seemed to always have something interesting to say about a song, even if it was the wee hours of the morning. I remembered thinking, “that’s gotta’ be a cool job.”

During one of my late night / early morning excursions to a friend’s house I passed by the station that had a permanently dedicated push button on my trusty GM Delco AM receiver and, being young and absurdly naïve, figured the best way to find out how to land such a cool job would be to go directly to a source in the know, such as…as… Hmmm…Funny…I can’t remember his name now…anyway…I turned my car around and wheeled into the station’s parking lot where he was plainly visible through a huge plate glass window as he sat in the “air chair”, as he often referred to that piece of furniture he occupied in front of the mic.

As I left my car and headed toward the window, I discovered there must have been a lot of people that stopped by during odd hours when, through an intercom I heard him ask, “Can I help you?” His tone was cheerful, but I’m sure he was wondering what a 17 year old kid was doing out at that hour. I remembered being rather matter-of-factly when I replied, “I was wondering how you get into radio,” (Believe it or not, he was willing to share the wealth of his experience in the business).

After he agreed show me the way to the road of broadcast fame, I waited with baited breath for a pearl of wisdom that had been hidden from civilization for ages, that bit of information that was know by only a chosen few when, with all the gravity of a surgeon about to impart details of an impending life-altering surgery he spoke…one sentence.

Frankly, it was really anti-climactic, even patronizing. But, after considering my future in the food service industry (in which I was totally inept), and, as hackneyed as it seemed, I followed his advice that led me to an extremely small town station where I could put that sage wisdom to the test. Sure enough they would take anyone who was breathing, and my journey down the long and winding path to where I am today began….and I’m happy to be here!

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