8-6-13
Mahaffey started in radio working at KWTO in Springfield with his uncle Ralph Foster. In the late 1960?s, he branched out on his own purchasing his first station, KJPW in Waynesville. Mahaffey went on to acquire stations in New Mexico, Texas and Louisiana. His son Robert told Radio Ink yesterday his dad was a very demanding but fair leader, his integrity and honor were beyond reproach and he never accepted the status quo." Memorial services are pending.
Robert Mahaffey also said his father was not afraid tochange with the industry. "I would further state that although he was too humble of a man to admit it, he was one of the real radio pioneers starting out in the 50's through to his death. He looked for heritage or well-engineered facilities to operate that had history behind them. People who knew him will remember him as a hard-nosed and demanding leader but at the end of the day, fairness and truth were two big words for him. There are fewer and fewer folks like him left in our business. He worked in radio all the way through when all programming was live and often music was originated in the studio up to our current days of digital where everything is on a hard drive. Change is inevitable and he embraced that."
Reach out to Robert at rbmahaffey@sbcglobal.net
(8/6/2013 1:13:06 PM)
I met John when I interviewed with he & Robert back in 2000. He was a visionary, leader and a true operator, who had "been there, done that" for real.
I enjoyed meeting him and am sorry to hear of his passing. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.
Add a Comment | View All Comments Send This Story To A Friend
