Audio By Carbonatix
Longtime radio jock Dave Pratt kicked off a book signing tour in mid-November to promote his not-for-profit, autobiography, Behind the Mic: 30 Years in Radio.
A month later, he was let go from his job as morning show host at country music station KMLE (107.9 FM). You can read a twinge of bitterness in the statement Pratt put out at the time, (still on his Web site):
My entire crew was surprised to learn that our morning show would no longer be on the air. I was very happy on KMLE, and our show enjoyed a 6 year run of success.
Pratt’s wife, Paula, sounded stressed in an Arizona Republic article:
Pratt, who survived prostate cancer in 2005, is donating all the proceeds from the book to the American Cancer Society.
His fans, meanwhile, have been voicing their frustration in a steady stream of comments on our blog post about Pratt’s missed property tax payment. For example:
Role model or not, Pratt’s a big-hearted guy who has contributed lots of time and money to charities. He’s also entertained thousands of fans. In making his name as an early shock jock in the 80s and 90s on KUPD (97.9 FM), Pratt evolved into one of the Valley’s minor-league legends. But let’s keep it in perspective — he’s no Howard Stern. Despite his hardcore followers, Pratt’s career took a turn for the weird when gave up rock and roll for country music. What will he do next, introduce the “smooth jazz” on KYOT (95.5 FM)?
Still, it would be interesting to know what happened at KMLE, and whether anything in Pratt’s book was responsible.
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