A broadcasting career that is one for the record books is the legacy left for us by Larry Nelson who, for 30 years served up the friendliest, guy-next-door, morning show from the KOMO Breakfast Table on AM 1000. Larry died overnight, 3:28 a.m., Thursday, November 29, after being diagnosed only 28 days earlier with end-stage, inoperable lung cancer that had metastasized to his spine and elsewhere. The diagnosis was a shocker, but the elapsed time from diagnosis to death was absolutely stunning.
Larry was the consistent, familiar, reliable friend who got the morning started through every season of the year not only in Seattle, but throughout the vast expanse of the geographic coverage area of the 50,000 watt KOMO Radio signal.
Additionally, I had the privilege of being the warm-up act for Larry’s show with my own program for nearly a decade, The Overnight Club with Jaynie Dillon, from 1981 through 1990. Having been the one to prepare the way for Larry and the morning news team, headed by Stan Orchard, each and every weekday, I’d like you to know that Larry was the same person in-person as he was on-the-air. He arrived in the studio eager to start the day, always with a kind word, a smile, a focus, and pure joy at the simplest things in life: a place to go, something to do each day, a heart filled with gratitude, an appreciation for motivational and inspirational books, and always sharing with the audience the day-to-day things in his own life that others could relate to and learn from; it was a winning combination. Stan has created a Web site in memory of Larry, http://LarryBNelson.com
Stan Orchard and I both went to KOMO from Tacoma radio stations. We had worked together at KTNT and KNBQ-FM starting in 1976. I was at KTAC & KBRD-FM when I was called to come to KOMO for an interview. Stan and I both were brought on board at KOMO by the (then) new Program Director Ken Kohl. It was a magnificent, magical time in radio with Ken Kohl's visionary, innovations in programming such as the hiring of the very first female announcer in the nearly 60-year history of the radio station (Yes, that was me).
The KOMO tailgate parties prior to the Huskies’ games were memorable for the hilarity, spontaneity, and the over-the-top production done by Production Director Eric McKaig week after week. The creative output was beyond comprehension. Eric is with CBS Radio, in Seattle, now as Creative Director and that he is.
Larry Nelson and the KOMO Morning Show were often on the road -- and beyond -- including remote broadcasts from international locations. Notably, we had recorded quite literally thousands of Northwest listeners’ greetings and wishes for peace. Then Larry and KOMO’s Michael Hamilton hand-delivered the Geneva Peace Tapes to the Russian and U.S. delegations in Geneva at the Peace Talks between Reagan and Gorbachev.
Formerly with KOMO Radio News, Patti Payne, now a columnist with the Puget Sound Business Journal could tell you endless stories about traveling with Lar. Patti and I shared an office at KOMO. She was a terrific office-mate and treasured friend. We shared many a laugh over the years and many a tear in recent days.
It was a grand time, that era of Larry Nelson’s radio career at KOMO. Those of us who worked with and around Larry were all blessed for having been in his presence. He was the heart and soul of KOMO Radio at its finest.
Share your memories of Larry Nelson and The KOMO Breakfast Table. Lar has left the world a better place for having been here, and the Northwest a better place than anywhere else.
