Nice Guy

Sad to hear of the passing today of Jim Keye , longtime broadcast executive in the Coachella Valley. Jim was the sales boss and radio factotum at KWXY. I first met Jim back in 1996 at the then Bob Hope Golf Tournament. Jim would hold court for the first 2 hours he was there. Always with a twinkle in his eye. He explained to someone once that I was "a good kid." I was 40 at the time!!!!

I loved to have lunch with him the first day of the Hope and listen to his stories about his days on the radio in Minnesota. He would always offer constructive criticism about my show. Always a charmer, we would talk about the local radio scene.

Earlier I had mentioned the first 2 hours of the first day of the Hope because if the truth be told, he would leave after that! In those days the Hope was a 5 day event. We would never see him the rest of the 4 days as he would do his reports from home. A few years ago, after KWXY was purchased by our radio group, I did the Hope and later Humana reports on the station. More than one wag in the media center said it was the first time KWXY had a man on sight for the whole tournament in years.

Jim Keye was a nice guy who had a great laugh and made a huge impact on the local broadcasting scene. It was an honor to know him.