Josh Holstead, operations manager of the Texas Radio Hall of Fame, sent word to TRHoF voters this evening that founder Larry Shannon died Thursday afternoon at 63.
"While only a few were aware of his declining health," Holstead wrote, "he took a turn for the worse late last week and passed away around 4 p.m."
Shannon, who had been involved with broadcasting since he was 16, was a University of Texas at Arlington graduate who worked at such stations as Fort Worth's KFJZ/1270 AM, where he was a No. 1 late-night jock, and KXOL, as welL as Dallas' KVIL/103.7 FM. He served as a personal assistant to former U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Jim Wright from 1986 until 1998. He was ahead of most of us when it came to digital journalism, and started numerous websites, including Radio Daily News and Talk Radio Daily News.
He was very involved in the Fort Worth scene and an avid supporter of the city, and such a tireless worker that his death at a relatively young age comes as more of a shock. On a personal note, he helped me -- sometimes in ways that made it print, often behind the scenes -- on numerous radio columns and stories. Looking through our archives, I'm struck by how often he's relaying information or providing a quote about someone else, using his vast knowledge of the local scene, broadcasting or otherwise. In a bittersweet twist, I and other Star-Telegram reporters often sought him out for comments in obituaries of other long-running DFW media personalities, because he really did seem to know everyone.
For his full bio -- this only scratches the surface -- click on the link to his name above.
Shannon founded the Texas Radio Hall of Fame, which inducted its first members in 2002. He had received enough votes to be inducted himself, but always declined. He declined this year, "saying that he would step aside again this year to allow another person to be inducted instead of him," according to the TRHoF website. "If, in any future year after his death, he receives enough votes and support for induction, he will be inducted posthumously."
Although the TRHoF Class of 2012 has already been announced, the ceremony doesn't take place till the fall in San Antonio. Tributes to Shannon are already pouring in on the TRHoF Facebook page, and Holstead says in the comments that Shannon will be inducted this year.
