Gary Dee

Gary David Gilbert, (born 1935, died November 10, 1995) on-air name Gary Dee, was a pioneer in controversial talk radio. He worked for stations which included WERE, WHK, and WWWE (now WTAM) in Cleveland, Ohio. He spent a short time in New York, but failed to achieve the huge following he had in Ohio.

Gary Dee's style varied from a confrontational, "down home" manner, to satire, and a no-holds barred shock jock style. He paved the way for radio stars who would follow him. Gary made heavy use of country music, especially Johnny Cash and George Jones. In his tongue-in-cheek way, he would poke fun at politicians, society in general, and his own family and life.

Biography

Dee was born in Hope, Arkansas. His father was a sharecropper who moved the family to Exeter, California when Dee was 11. There his father became a fire chief.

He went on to spend three semesters at the University of California, Berkeley, studying accounting. He dropped out and went on to enter the College of the Sequoias. He then finished his degree in radio and speech at Fresno State College while living in a funeral home rent-free in exchange for answering the phones at night; or at least that was the deal. Gary sublet two of his three rooms and had the other college students do the work. While in Fresno, he was on-air at KYNO, the Gene Chenault-owned Top-40 station that was an early stop for famed programmer Bill Drake. He appeared on-air at KYNO and cross-town rival KMAK in both Top-40 and country incarnations.