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Jim Bevers passes

rfburns

rfburns

Long time broadcaster and retired news director for the Mississippi Network Jim Bevers passed away recently. I knew Jim but hadn't seen him in a few years - always a classy guy. My prayers go out to his family.

RFB
 
Jim was a trooper, and with the network from it's earlier days...he was on top of the news! If something happened locally here...he would frequently call for the local angle on what was happening.
Great Guy....JBI
 
I knew Jim in the early 80's when I was in Jackson. Even worked for him as a studio engineer for Ole Miss football on the network and about two months worth doing afternoons when Bill Gilbert was sick. A true class guy that gave radio a good name.
 
My station, WKXI 94.7, shared studio space and aired the newscasts of Miss Radio News (MRN) network in the early 70s. I have fond memories of working with Jim Bevers for several years. RIP, my friend.
 
Jim Bevers moved to Jackson around 1972 and here's the story. I was there. (Dates may be a little off.) I, Jack Carpenter and Douglas Brumfield started the first MRN. (There were actually two different MRNs in the early days.) After we, the original three, saw an ad in Broadcasting magazine about a new regional network called IBC (Interstate Broadcasting Co.) starting state networks in Texas and Lousisiana, I decided to just pick up the phone and call them to see if they wanted to buy MRN. Jim Bevers said (in effect) "Yes, of course. Why don't you guys fly to Dallas and let's have lunch and talk."

We did, we all agreed and MRN became IBC Mississippi a few weeks later.

But then the money man behind IBC pulled the plug after a short time. The three state networks went dark without any announcement.

More in the next post ...
 
Brumfield and I decided to restart MRN. (We called the new one Miss. Radio News Network to distinguish it from the original Miss. Radio Network.) We called Jim to come to Miss. and help us run the operation. He agreed and that's how he arrived.

I used to talk with him about once a year and lately lost contact. He was very nice, sincere and always looking for ways to make money and be an entrepeneur. Thank you for your friendship. I remember clearly the day we met in Dallas, the Mexican restaurant you took us to, and the overall general honesty of the IBC people, including Jim, that saved the first MRN.
 
Henry: WKXI commenced operations Aug 10 1971, so that would likely be the start date for MRN also, since its news product went out over our main carrier and subcarrier. Jim B was there from day one, wasn't he? Another member of the team from the earliest days was Wayne Edwards; I recently heard from him after being out of touch for 35 years. He is CEO of a Nashville ad agency.
 
It was a long time ago, memory fades, and I think Jim B didn't arrive until a little later. In fact, I think Brumfield hired him to replace me as I was kind of moved out. I was "sent" to Texas to get me out of state as they were afraid the waste material was about to hit the rotating blades. That's a different story. Wayne Edwards just sent me an email from Nashville about Jim Bevers. I hadn't heard from him since those days.

This is a post about our friend Jim. Does anyone else have some stories from those days. I've always wondered how MRN somehow morphed into whatever it's called now. I'm sure Jim was at the helm. Stories?
 
Oh, I just remembered another Jim Bevers story. Sometime after I had been exiled, MRN was to have some anniversary party. I found out about it and decided to attend. I met my friend Herb Guthrie, former manager of WRBC when it was rock and roll and located on Lamar Street. Herb had retired from WRBC and had bought WELZ in Belzoni, which was an early MRN affiliate.

We walked into the banquet room at the Heidleberg (spelling) Hotel on Capitol Street and found a table way in the back. (At the time MRN had its studios in a Heidleberg room and had a Reuters Teletype clacking away sitting inside the bathtub. Really!) At the banquet I spoke with Jim briefly but basicly, they weren't expecting me. (Now Herb, an affiliate, they drooled over.)

Jim's speech before the gathering acknowledged us early pioneers. More speeches. We ate. And I went back to Texas. That was the last time I saw Jim but we frequently talked on the phone. He would usually ask something like (jokingly), "They haven't brought you back to Miss. yet?" or "I was in Houston last week and I drove through your Montrose. Everything's open 24 hours. Why can't we have that here in Jackson?"
 
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