I am approaching 35 years in radio broadcasting.

What started me down this path of a radio career? The short answer is my love for all things TV and radio.

Here is a list of local media personalities who inspired me along the way.


Ray Ramsey - 1970s Weather guy on KOMO 4 News

Quick on his feet. His weather forecasts always entertained me.

 


Pat O’Dea - KJR-AM Seattle, Channel 95

Pat once promised that everyone attending the Seattle Boat Show in the Kingdome would get a chunk of the glacier from Mt Rainier.

'You'll get a piece of the very same glacier that carved the deep waters of Puget Sound' -Pat O'Day

 

What imagery. It worked.

 


Dave Niehaus - Seattle Mariners TV and radio announcer

He was the soundtrack to the summers of my youth.

The Mariners would routinely lose 100 games a season - Dave always kept it exciting.

 


Bob Blackburn - Seattle Supersonics radio announcer

He provided all the excitement when the Sonics won the NBA title in 1979.

 

 


Wayne Cody - KIRO TV and Radio sports announcer

I used to call into his KIRO Sportsline radio show as a 12-year-old kid. He always was respectful and let me ask what was on my mind. To this day, whenever a kid calls my show, I do the same.

 


J. Michael Kenyon - 570 KVI Evening Radio Host

Larry King’s Mutual Radio network show took hold of my imagination and inspired me to want to be on the radio. I remember listening to the night of this broadcast on C-Span in 1984.

 

But - back to J. Michael Kenyon. I learned about Larry King, whose show would begin at 11pm in Seattle, because of the show that was on before Larry - J. Michael’s “7-11 Sports” on 570 KVI.

 


Jean Enersen - KING 5 News

Our paths crossed, one late afternoon, just before a Seattle Mariners game. Jean got out of her car and stepped in front of me in the Kingdome parking lot.

Seeing Jean Enersen, was like seeing a family member. Her newscasts were broadcast into my living room for decades. I smiled and waved - then jogged ahead of her - to take away any awkwardness. 

 


Kathi Goertzen - KOMO 4 News

I cried when she passed away in 2012. Her life was taken early by her long battle with recurring meningiomas. She was one of my Seattle media favorites.

 


Mark Wright - KING 5 News & KXLY Spokane News

One of few people. on this list, that I know personally. We both worked in the KXLY building in the late 90s. I was upstairs, in the radio division - at KZZU. Mark was working downstairs at News Channel 4. He made it to Seattle and KING 5 TV. Great guy. Solid newsman.

 


Robin & Maynard - KISW, KZOK, KXRX, The Buzz 100.7

They still have an impact on what you hear, every morning on KW3. I loved it when Roy Otis, Richard Petersen, or Chip Hanauer would jump in to visit. You can still listen to the highlights of their show here.

 


Chet Buchanan - KUBE 93 Seattle

His “Aircheck sessions” of my shows - gave me the building blocks of radio fundamentals. You can still hear Chet - mornings on Las Vegas’s KLUC. He spends half his time in Seattle, working as the PA announcer for the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena. 

NOTE: And oh, by the way - last fall, he spent 3 generous hours on the phone with me before my Wenatchee Wild PA debut. 

 


Don West - Newsradio 560 KPQ Wenatchee

Don West with Connor at the Wenatchee Valley College Commons (Laura Gooch)
Don West with Connor (Laura Gooch)
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Don West's supernatural power was his ability to compel you to buy a product. I wrote my thoughts on Don after his passing in 2022.

LOOK: 44 Amazing Actors That Have Called Washington State Home

Sure, Washington is known for Amazon, coffee, wine, apples, grunge music, Microsoft, and Boeing. But you may not know how many actors and actresses have come from the Evergreen State. Yeah, our state has had an impact on the television and film industry. We've got A-listers, an Oscar winner, and faces of big franchises.

Check out our list below, I'm sure you'll find some surprises.

Gallery Credit: Pete Christensen

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