[Spotlight Post] Kidd Kraddick – Gone But Not Forgotten
So, it’s Friday. I wondered what I was going to write about this week – the John Ringo novel I’m reading, a charity that does good work? And then this morning my brain said, “No, you’re going to be one of the thousands talking about Kidd Kraddick this week.â€
I’m a radio brat. Most people know that about me. My dad had to postpone his first interview with a radio station because Mom was in labor with me (he got the job). I literally grew up in a radio station. I wrote my first commercial at 10 for a small Missouri town shoe store when both parents worked for the same small market station. It was a live read on the air. When Dad had to work remotes, I helped pass out bumper stickers and blow up balloons. I have a Radio-TV-Film degree and did MY time in radio early out of college. That’s MY story…
Kidd Kraddick was one of the people I listened to when I moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area for college. I’ve never known this market to NOT have Kidd Kraddick on some station. He was one of the people I listened to when I didn’t have to listen to whatever station Dad was working for – or I was working for. He was – and always will be – a fixture. As Russ Martin put it, Kraddick was iconic in this market. And it’s true.
I never met the man personally. When I did the radio thing, it was in different genres. But radio is a tiny little community. Everyone ends up working with or for everyone else at some point. Everyone knows everyone or is connected by less than 6 Degrees . So this week I grieve with those who knew Kraddick personally because they’re “industry familyâ€. The industry that helped raise me lost one of their own and it’s a big void.
Kraddick did a lot of good for a lot of people – through his unwavering support of fellow professionals in the industry and through his charity. Whether or not you listened to his show or liked what he did on the air, he made a difference in lives. He will be missed. The radio scene will not be the same ever again.