From my long-ago DXing days, I found this rare photo in a copy of TV & Radio Mirror Magazine.
Who’s the DJ ? Jack Par/91 KISN – Vancouver, Wa. (September 1961)
He was a short-term success on one of the Portland-Vancover market’s biggest broadcast firebrands.
The year was 1961. It was the early hey-days of the Rose City’s KISN, which had a highly successful top-40 run that spanned 17 years. But it came to an end when the FCC— weary of Don Burden’s endless and uncurbed shenanigans — denied license renewals for not only KISN, but also four other Star Station outlets in Indianapolis (WIFE) and Omaha (KOIL). (See Don Burden — Radio Stardom, Stormy End) The jock is Jack Par (not to be confused with late-night “Tonight Show” host Jack Parr who preceded Johnny Carson). Over much of his roughly 14-months at KISN, Par held down both AM and FM drive time slots while Ninety-Wonderful KISN—and the rest of the Burden stations — were starting to carve out a major slice of lucrative broadcast history. Details of Par’s short tenure and mostly unclear departure aren’t well known, but he did sandwich KISN between Gresham’s KGRO and Vancouver’s KKEY. He was later (1972) reported as General Manager of a small California station (KDOL, Mojave) and then logged on-air stints In Idaho (Boise and Twin Falls) before pursuing (in the 1980s) broadcast advertising and sales.
Ron DeHart is a former newspaper and broadcast journalist and a retired Public Affairs Officer from both the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Navy/Naval Reserve. His historical accounts of Pacific Northwest broadcasting are published by Puget Sound Media. View more articles by Ron DeHart
After leaving KISN in 1962, Par moved over to evenings, 6p-8p, and 10p-Midnight on KEX. By September, Par had moved to 1520 KGON. In June 1963, Par had left KGON, landing at 1150 KKEY in July to do mornings. That lasted a month or so, then Par was replaced by Barney Keep at KKEY. Keep became the new morning man at KEX in September. It was quite a game of musical chairs. Par had left Portland radio by this time.
Listening to KISN, I remember Par. He would often say: "This is Par for the car for the color cartoon to taper your traffic tempers." At the time he was broadcasting on KISN during the evening rush between 3 and 7 pm.
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After leaving KISN in 1962, Par moved over to evenings, 6p-8p, and 10p-Midnight on KEX. By September, Par had moved to 1520 KGON. In June 1963, Par had left KGON, landing at 1150 KKEY in July to do mornings. That lasted a month or so, then Par was replaced by Barney Keep at KKEY. Keep became the new morning man at KEX in September. It was quite a game of musical chairs. Par had left Portland radio by this time.
Listening to KISN, I remember Par. He would often say: "This is Par for the car for the color cartoon to taper your traffic tempers." At the time he was broadcasting on KISN during the evening rush between 3 and 7 pm.