The Owner Who Changed My Life

By Frank Absher

They were once found just about everywhere, but now they’re nearing extinction. Almost all radio veterans have encountered them, and many members of this vanishing breed had similar traits. Fortunately, a few stood head-and-shoulders above the rest. They were individuals who owned a radio station.

More commonly found in the nation’s small and medium markets, these folks used their own money to buy or build a station. When payroll time came, they had to make sure there was enough money to cover it.

Some hired their mistresses. Others hired women with whom they hoped to score. I actually heard one large market owner try it as a pickup line: “Hi. I’m Joe Blow and I own a radio station.” Didn’t work.

They loved the cachet of status that surrounded media in those days. It meant membership at the small-town country clubs, rubbing elbows with the real power brokers – bankers, for example.

Stories about this breed of individuals number into the thousands, and all are probably true, so it’s easy to generalize about them. But once in a great while, it was possible to find a gem.

Mine came when I left the military in the early ‘70s. The economy was in the crapper and jobs were hard to find. I had a wife and baby. Despite the best of plans, I couldn’t land a job.

Then a PD called me to tell me he and the owner had narrowed their search down to two guys, and I was one of them. They would make their decision soon.

The call came in December. Would I drive to their town to meet with them? A date was set.

On the appointed day there was a nasty ice storm, but I hit the road and arrived at the station at the appointed time. They were surprised to see me, having assumed the weather would dictate a rescheduling of our lunch. But I really wanted that job.

They took me to lunch, and after some small talk the owner, Shelby Harbison, told me they had decided to hire the other guy to do mornings at his station, WTAX. His explanation for wanting to meet with me showed me I was dealing with a one-of-a-kind owner.

After much consideration Harbison decided on the other guy because he would be with the station a lot longer than I would. Shelby assumed that I would move up quickly once I found work, and that would have meant another search for them if they had hired me.

But that’s not all. At lunch that day he promised me that he would find me a job. And he did. After making several calls to his friends, he called me to tell me I had my pick of a couple markets, and I had a job in a couple of weeks.

Six years later, after I’d moved a couple times, the phone rang in my office at KMOX. It was Shelby, calling to congratulate me on my being hired at one of the top stations in the country. We had a great talk, and I’ll never forget his last remark that day: “Frank,” he said, “the guy we hired instead of you – he’s still with us.”

Discuss on the STL Media Message Board. (Registration required)