Jim Lipsey was one of our very first employees. He was a strong sales executive, but we utilized him in so many ways. He had great pipes (a good voice). So Jim could sell the commercials, then voice them… and then produce them. He was our first production manager. And, he could do the programming too in a pinch.
So we had a multi-talented guy: sales, production, talent! And furthermore, he learned affiliate relations, so he made calls soliciting radio affiliates. And he added an air of solid maturity to the new venture.
We hired Jim on May 1, 1974 and he stayed with us until he retired September 1, 1992 at the age of 71–the one and only guy to retire from Learfield.
Jim stopped by last week and sat down with Bob Priddy and me to reminisce about the early days. Here’s a 10 minute video clip from that chat.