When Bridgeport’s Chris Cleghorn broke into the sales business in radio back in 1997, he was a rookie with West Virginia Radio. As is often the case, he received some mentoring from several people.

 

Among that group was a gentleman named Mike King.  As an older, established professional in the industry who had literally done it all and was still doing it all, mentoring a new person was not unusual.

 

So, why mention it? What was unusual is this: King did not work for West Virginia Radio at the time. Instead, he worked at WPDX.

 

“He helped me in my first personal encounter,” said Cleghorn. “What made it really unique is I knew who he was long before that because my father listened to him on a show called ‘Your Opinion’ every morning … If we ran into each other doing sales calls, he would always give me advice, asked how things were going, and told me to keep up the work. That’s just who he was.”

 

Like several, Cleghorn knew him personally. Like countless others, they knew the voice.

 

The voice came to rest last week. Mike King, who started a radio career back in 1963 and carried it forward for 55 years, passed away June 24 at the age of 78.

 

Ironically, Cleghorn ended up working with King back at West Virginia Radio. Cleghorn eventually helped land King a position in sales that also had a good side of radio work that included the Football Friday Free-For-All and hosting The Morning Edition among other duties.

 

“He would do anything for you and had not changed from that first encounter. I always joked he was back on the good side of radio when he started working here,” said Cleghorn. “Truth is, wherever Mike worked was the good side of things.”

 

Cleghorn, like many, recalled King’s unmistakable voice. Like many as well, he also recalled his unquestionable kindness and decency.

 

While many did know King, those that did not likely knew his voice. He started in 1963 at WHAR and then bounced around stations before landing at West Virginia Radio and eventually retiring from there. During that time, it is hard to quantify the number of people who heard his voice.

 

“Thousands, actually tens of thousands heard him. It’s hard to say,” said Al Cox, who had decades long relationship with King from their radio days until his recent passing.

 

Cox, a 1960 Bridgeport High School alum who went by the radio moniker Al Newton, has the distinction of being involved with King’s hiring in the business back in the fall of 1963. Mike King went to work as the weekend announcer on WHAR 1340 AM and was officially in radio. He never left.

 

“To be successful, you have to have a good voice. His voice was a resonate voice; it could be your father’s your brother’s or whoever, but it worked,” said Cox, who was the best man in King’s wedding. “You need that voice, but you also have to have the personality and if either piece of that combination is missing it’s a struggle. He had them both and was the real deal.”

 

King and Cox teamed up on WHAR in the heyday of AM radio and did something groundbreaking back then that would not even cause an eye to bat today. They were there when that station went completely to a rock and roll format. Even better, the pair was responsible for the move.

 

“We played rock and roll a few hours during our shows … and mixed it in with all kinds of music. Then, when the station was without a general manager, we just decided to switch to the rock and roll format and it worked,” said Cox.

 

Indeed, it did. Cox said King’s morning show from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. did better than expected – way better. At that time, if you drew a share in the 20s, you were on to something. King, he said, had a show drawing a 57 share.

 

“That was unbelievable. That meant out of 100 people listening to the radio at that time, 57 people were listening to Mike’s show,” said Cox of his friend who was a 1961 Washington Irving graduate.

 

Cox said King’s greatest attribute was being a good person, a decent man. He said it resonated through his voice on the radio and was a scarlet letter of decency for those that knew him in person.

 

“It’s pretty hard to put into words just how good of a man he was,” said Cox. “He had a very caring type of personality; he was a good listener and he just enjoyed being with people. That combination, along with being very talented at his profession, resulted in people liking Mike.”

 

They did. They liked him locally and from afar. Cox recalls when the movie “The Rain People” that was directed by a young Francis Ford Coppola and starred a young James Caan was in town filming and the crew was staying at the Towne House West. Cox said King wanted to meet the actor because a professor at Marshall University said he had taught Caan at another institution, and King did – along with the pair meeting several soon-to-be Hollywood legends.

 

“He got to speak with James Caan, and they hit it off,” said Cox. “I can’t say, then or now, I’m surprised.”

 

Whether it was a person from Hollywood or a person on the corner somewhere in downtown Clarksburg or Bridgeport Mike King had good and kind words for everyone. If you did not hear it face to face, chances are good you heard it on the radio.

 

It was a voice that reverberated across multiple generations and decades and ended up allowing King, without him ever acknowledging it, to become an icon. The voice may be silent, but the legacy of entertainment, giving information and, most importantly, being a decent man, provides memories that shall remain.

 

Rest easy Mike. Your work here is done.

 

Editor's Note: Photos provided by Al Cox as well as Mike Queen showing Mike King during various stages of his career. As for the bottom photo, that is Mike King, middle, surrounded by The Four Seasons at the Nathan Goff Armory in Clarksburg in February of 1965. From left, is Tom DeVito, Frankie Valli, Mike King, Bob Gaudio, and Nick Massi (The Jersey Boys).