Pat O'Day Remembered.

I have spoken a lot about Pat O'Day in this blog.  I was fortunate to work for him.  I remember the excitement of working at a Seattle station.  It was not long after college and I was working for my father, at the same time, my cousin, Burl was working with me in that business in Walla Walla.  Burl was working weekends in Seattle at KYYX, flying back and forth.  Burl had told me about an entry level job at the station, which was owned by Pat.  I went to interview in the Spring, not hearing back from them.  That is until one August day, Burl came out and said, Mike, Elvin (the station manager) is on the phone.  There was a job open at KYYX if I could come up.   Having always wanted to live in Seattle, I enthusiastically accepted.  It was there, that I learned about how big Pat O'Day was.

I have been friends  with Pat's son Garry ever since we worked at the station.  I have been to the family ranch in the San Juan Islands a couple of times.  

Burl and Pat worked together at KJR   and formed a great friendship.  

With KJR bringing such a high share of the radio market, Pat was able to bring many Seattle acts to the national scene.    Pat became a close friend and confident of Seattle based Rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix (pictured with Pat below).  I was touched be hearing about how when Hendrix died in England, O'Day found there were no plans to bring his body back to the States. The record execs had bailed on him and his family couldn't afford to.  O'Day flew to England and paid to have Hendrix's body returned.

Pat was recently famous as the voice of Schick Shadel, the alcohol and substance abuse clinic. 

He was very present on Facebook.  He praised me for a video I posted a few years ago, thanking me for keeping memories alive.  

In a status update about a year ago, he chastised the mayor of Seattle and the city council, as he felt that the city government was letting the homeless problem get out of hand.    

Pat had a need for speed and loved Seafair, the Seattle Summer celebration.  He was the voice of unlimited hydroplane racing in Seattle for over 4 decades. Pat died two days after what would have been the Seafair unlimited hydroplane race.  This year's Seafair was cancelled because of the Corona virus.