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A Houston radio legend retires...

P

pepe

Longtime Houston radio announcer Jim Bell has signed off. After 40+ years, he's going to "return to the nest" and move back to Lufkin with his family. He's healthy as a horse and is anxious to enjoy the next chapter of his life. Those of us who've worked with him will never forget him. And as you can hear on the audio clip below, he wrapped up a stellar career with his remarkable talent on full display.

Well played, sir!

God speed my friend!

http://app1.kuhf.org/houston_public_radio-news-display.php?articles_id=1276120833
 
That's exactly what I was going to say, Chuck. I finally got to talk a little with Jim for the first time a few weeks ago and I really enjoyed it. Can you keep in touch, Jim?
 
Thanks Mike and Chuck, and Paul P. I will definitely be in touch here on Radio Info. We have Internet and DSL's up here in the Piney Woods too. loll Yes they finally got some phone lines strung into the woods north of Diboll.

My sincere thanks to all those who've called me and emailed me about my retirement. One of the reasons I stayed in the radio business as long as I did -- 45 years -- was the privilege of associating with some of the finest people in the world. Youse guys.
 
I was a pleasure and a privilege to have worked with Jim and then watch his work all these years at KUHF. He was the newsman's newsman. Enjoy those Piney Woods, sir. You've certainly earned it.
 
I had a chance to meet Jim at the Houston Radio Reunion in '08. He is a class act, and a wonderful guy. Have a great retirement Jim!
 
Best wishes in your return to the Piney Woods Jim! I am actually a bit envious of you getting to go back to that area. Keep in touch.

Kevin
 
It's really nice

to learn that there are people out there who have positive feelings for you and don't hesitate to express them. Folks please believe me when I say I appreciate the kind notes and calls I've been getting since I retired last week.

I'm feeling guilty for not making more of an effort to keep up with "the market" during my working years. There are a lot of great people in this town, and having some of them weigh in here is heart-warming.

Makes me think maybe I'm retiring too soon. I wonder if it's too late to change my plans and go back to work.

LOLL Just kidding. Don't worry Debra. I worked too hard to get here, so I'm not turning back now. It's my sincere prayer that all of my old buds and buddettes out there can also do what I've managed to do, and retire with dignity when the time is right for them.

Tubetop1 -- Thanks for the compliment. Who is your husband?
 
Jim, congratulations on your retirement. It's nice to be one of the very few who can say "thanks for listening and goodbye" on the air when the time comes instead of, "Uh.. Mike, you don't need to come in this afternoon". I'm sure you remember you and I started at KPRC at the late Post Oak location about the same time. I think it's a duck pond now.
Enjoyed working with you, brief as it was. Good luck and Godspeed.
Mike Marshall
 
Thanks Mike. KPRC's South Post Oak studios ARE a duck pond now. I guess that's still better than what KPRC is now.

I think it was sometime in 1970 that you came to work there, a few months after I started there. I was working for Ray Miller in the news department, and you were working for PD Jack London, I think. Or was it Buzz Lawrence? It's all a little hazy now.

Those were some great years in Houston radio, and you were one of the reasons Mike. Radio was a lot of fun in those days.
 
Jim, I started on Labor Day, 1969. A guy named Berry Fields, or something like that, quit. Bill Enis was Channel 2 Sports Director. I had worked for Bill at KFJZ in Fort Worth and he recommended me to Buddy Holliday was was KPRC's PD at the time. Jack London was Production Director. I was working 7 to midnight at WFAA in Dallas (on 50KW 820 clear channel at that time of the day. I got calls from Montana). Buddy called me and asked me come down to Houston for an interview.
He hired me and I was thrilled to get off the night shift and work afternoon drive, but less than six months later, Buddy told me "they" wanted to hire Ted Lumpkin for 4 to 7 and offered me (a) move to 7 to midnight or (b) move on. That put me in the strange position of, in effect, firing David Perkins who was working 7 to midnight at the time. Of course, I chose (a) because I had just moved down here, had one baby daughter and another on the way.
Not long after that, Buddy was replaced by Buzz Lawrence from Denver who in one fell swoop replaced everybody except Tim and Bob in the mornings and Ron Rice who was doing all night.
 
Wow. All that was going on when I got there the last week of December 69? You're telling me stuff I've never heard. Boy I'm glad I was in the newsroom, which was very well insulated from the rest of the station, which was precisely how Ray Miller wanted it.

Miller was so determined to maintain the news department's journalistic integrity that newscasters and reporters were not allowed to do commercials or even promos. I'm not kidding. The sales people were not even allowed in the newsroom.

I had come to KPRC from KIKK, where there was no separation between news and sales staff. At KIKK, like most other stations, sales people were always leaning on the news department to interview their ad clients, or cover grand openings and other big events just to keep a client happy. Miller allowed none of that, which was why his news department was one of the best and most respected in the country.
 
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