It is not a good look for a 55-year-old fat guy to wake up at 6am on a Sunday and immediately start crying like a child, but that is me this morning. I guess it has taken me this long to process the news that Colonel St. James had died.
Few know this, but my first encounter with him was a horrible one. The day we met, we ended up engaging in a knock-down-drag-out screaming match in the parking lot at TV station KNWS in Houston. I cannot remember why. Just a few months later he and I would actually see one another on an almost daily basis, and we went from tolerating one another to really hitting it off. Neither one of us ever spoke of that first encounter again.
Looking back on our time together at the Texas Radio Hall of Fame, I think it is very important that people know how much of a champion he was for the cause of so many Inductees and nominees. Colonel was great at really identifying the finite details about a candidates body of work and deeming if that person truly was “Hall of Fame Worthy” -a term he coined. He really got off on the discovery process. He was the guy who discovered the little things about an individual that made their career stellar and spectacular, and the things that contributed to the stories that would (for lack of a better term) memorialize their radio lifeblood.
I also do not think I could begin to count the individuals whose life he impacted over the years with his guidance on the business. He really did have an ear for up and coming talent and could easily identify a future star. I am in sure in the days ahead more than one will come forward with their stories of how he positively impacted their life and career in some way.
As a member of our Board of Directors, I know he convinced me of the power I had in my hands, and how that entity could do good for others on the national stage. He was the very first person to suggest we harness our influence and reputation to get recognition for our Inductees in even bigger and more respected organizations like the National Radio Hall of Fame, and I think you’d agree with him (and me) that a number of the people that we have honored deserve to be in those ranks as well. The guy really did work hard for others, when he could have (and should have) spent his time working on his own legacy.
That’s how I’m going to remember Colonel St. James.
Josh Holstead
Director Emeritus
Texas Radio Hall of Fame
