Paul Richard "Dick" Purtan (born July 11, 1936) is an American

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

personality. His last radio job was as the morning radio show host on

WOMC WOMC (104.3 FM, "104.3 WOMC") is a commercial radio station in Detroit, Michigan. It airs a classic hits radio format and is owned by Audacy, Inc. The transmitter and studios are both located on American Drive off 11 Mile Road in Southfield, Mi ...

serving the

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, radio market. Purtan was also a disc jockey at

WKNR WKNR (850 AM) – branded as ''850 ESPN Cleveland'' – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland. Owned by Good Karma Brands, WKNR is the Cleveland affiliate for ESPN Radio and the AM flagsh ...

, WXYZ, CKLW, WCZY-FM which became

WKQI WKQI (95.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a Radio broadcasting, radio station serving Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Owned by iHeartMedia, it broadcasts a contemporary hit radio, Top 40/CHR format branded as ''Channel 955'' (pronounced "nine-five-five" ...

in 1989 and WOMC from 1996 until his retirement in 2010. Previous to coming to Detroit at WKNR "Keener 13" in 1965, Purtan worked at

WOLF The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

and

WSAI WSAI (1360 AM) is a Cincinnati, Ohio commercial radio station. Owned and operated by iHeartMedia, its studios, as well as those of iHeartMedia's other Cincinnati stations, are in the Towers of Kenwood building next to I-71 in the Kenwood secti ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

; he began his radio career in his hometown of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

at WWOL under the station-mandated name "Guy King" and also worked for a very short time at WBAL in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

(only to be forced to leave the station after his witty, sardonic humor clashed with the station's conservative ownership).

Career

Purtan is well known for his philanthropic work. Each year, Purtan and his "Purtan's People" crew host a radiothon to benefit the Salvation Army's "Bed and Bread" program. Through Purtan's efforts, over $30 million have been donated to the Bed and Bread program. The money has also been used to purchase additional Bed and Bread trucks which make daily deliveries of food to needy people in the Detroit area. While in Cincinnati, Purtan gathered together $12,500 and promoted and emceed the Beatles in concert. Purtan had a voice over role in '' Beverly Hills Cop III''. He had a cameo role as a police detective in the 1973 film ''

Detroit 9000 ''Detroit 9000'' is a 1973 American action film directed by Arthur Marks from a screenplay by Orville H. Hampton. Originally marketed as a blaxploitation film, it had a resurgence on video 25 years later. Plot Street-smart white detective Danny ...

''. On the morning of February 13, 2010, Purtan announced his retirement effective March 26, 2010. He and his late wife, Gail, resided in West Bloomfield. As of 2014, he and one of his six daughters, Jackie, continue to keep up with his audience through his blog every weekday and Facebook. He also started producing a weekly podcast, which can run anywhere between 20 minutes and an hour and have had on various "Purtan People." His daughter Joanne was a newscaster on local WXYZ-TV Channel 7. After losing his wife, Gail, of 60 years to cancer in 2018, Purtan remarried on June 13, 2020.

Honors

* In 2004, Purtan was inducted into the

National Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communicatio ...

. * Purtan was inducted into the

National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame The NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame is a yearly honor from the National Association of Broadcasters. One inductee from radio and one from television are named at the yearly NAB conference. Radio For a list of award winners, see footnote * 1977: J ...

in the radio division in 2006.

References

External links

Dick Purtan's official Web site

Purtan on Twitter

Purtan on Facebook
*
1978 CKLW Radio 'Super' Purtan Ad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purtan, Dick 1936 births Living people American radio DJs Radio personalities from Detroit Radio personalities from Buffalo, New York