Got some sad news late on Tuesday that Jim Steel has passed away.
Jim was the Operations Director for the Clear Channel stations in Lincoln and Omaha when I worked with the markets. Jim was just working with Lincoln at first, but the management team couldn't get enough of Jim so he ran between the 2 markets taking on all kinds of exciting and challenging programming experiences. He handled all of them with exceptional leadership, creativity and a deep love for the art of programming.
Jim had the love of music, the love of people around him and one-ness with the audience. All the ingredients of great programmers. Both markets grew from his efforts. He also deeply served his community - helping with any project he could find time for.
Jim called one day and explained that he had ALS - Lou Gehrigs disease. It was a sad moment for his family, the teams in both markets and all Jim's friends throughout our industry. He fought ALS for the last 5 years or so. Even though his condition became worse the stations fought to keep Jim on-board and did so with e-mail communication and stopping by to help him through the day at his home. Clear Channel owned Lincoln till last last year and still owns the Omaha stations and kept Jim on board through this awful disease.
No doubt it was a long battle with a terrible disease. Jim - we'll miss you and remember your leadership, creativity, and love of radio, but most of all we'll miss a great person.
No comments:
Post a Comment