Jim Cox, a retired college professor living in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, is a leading historian on the subject of

radio programming Radio programming is the process of organising a schedule of radio content for commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting by radio stations. History The original inventors of radio, from Guglielmo Marconi's time on, expected it to be use ...

in the 20th century. He has written extensively on the

history of radio The early history of radio is the history of technology that produces and uses radio equipment, radio instruments that use radio waves. Within the timeline of radio, many people contributed theory and inventions in what became radio. Radio deve ...

from the 1920s to the present.

Books

Through McFarland & Company and Scarecrow Press, Cox has published more than 15 books, including the recent ''Radio Speakers: Narrators, News Junkies, Sports Jockeys, Tattletales, Tipsters, Toastmasters and Coffee Klatch Couples Who Verbalized the Jargon of the Aural Ether from the 1920s to the 1980s—A Biographical Dictionary'' (2007). The book profiles of more than 1,100 “radio speakers,” including

Red Barber Walter Lanier "Red" Barber (February 17, 1908 – October 22, 1992) was an American sports announcer and author. Nicknamed "The Ol' Redhead", he was primarily identified with broadcasts of Major League Baseball, calling play-by-play across four d ...

H. V. Kaltenborn Hans von Kaltenborn (July 9, 1878June 14, 1965), generally known as H. V. Kaltenborn, was an American radio commentator. He was heard regularly on the radio for over 30 years, beginning with CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened ...

Dorothy Kilgallen Dorothy Mae Kilgallen (July 3, 1913 – November 8, 1965) was an American columnist, journalist, and television game show panelist. After spending two semesters at the College of New Rochelle, she started her career shortly before her 18th birth ...

Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe fo ...

Louella Parsons Louella Parsons (born Louella Rose Oettinger; August 6, 1881 – December 9, 1972) was an American movie columnist and a screenwriter. She was retained by William Randolph Hearst because she had championed Hearst's mistress Marion Davies and su ...

and

Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and co ...

. Other books by Cox include ''The Daytime Serials of Television, 1946–1960'' (2006), ''Historical Dictionary of American Radio Soap Operas'' (2005), ''Music Radio'' (2005), '' Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons'' (2004), '' Frank and Anne Hummert’s Radio Factory'' (2003), ''Radio Crime Fighters'' (2002), ''Say Goodnight, Gracie: The Last Years of Network Radio'' (2002), ''The Great Radio Audience Participation Shows'' (2001), ''The Great Radio Soap Operas'' (1999) and ''Rails Across Dixie'' (2011).

Awards

At the Friends of Old Time Radio Convention, vintage radio's largest annual event, Cox was the recipient of the 2002 Ray Stanich Award, given annually for prolific research and writing on the subject of old time radio. Cox is a frequent guest at the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, held annually in

Aberdeen, Maryland Aberdeen is a city located in Harford County, Maryland, United States, northeast of Baltimore. The population was 16,254 at the 2020 United States Census. Aberdeen is the largest municipality in Harford County. Aberdeen is part of the Baltimor ...

. While Cox contributes to vintage radio club newsletters and nostalgia periodicals, his range of interests also includes travel, railroads, swimming, baseball, history and government. An active churchman, husband, father and grandfather, he volunteers weekly with charitable organizations. In 2007, Cox received the Stone-Waterman Award presented by the Cincinnati Old Time Radio and Nostalgia Convention for outstanding contributions to the preservation of old time radio history.

References

*''Frank and Anne Hummert's Radio Factory: The Programs and Personalities of Broadcasting's Most Prolific Producers''. McFarland Publishing, 2003. *''Say Goodnight, Gracie: The Last Years of Network Radio''. McFarland Publishing, 2002. *''The Great Radio Audience Participation Shows''. McFarland Publishing, 2001. *''The Great Radio Soap Operas''. McFarland Publishing, 1999. *''Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons: A Complete History and Episode Log of Radio's Most Durable Detective''. McFarland Publishing, 2004. *''Radio Crime Fighters''. McFarland Publishing, 2005. *''Radio Speakers: Narrators, News Junkies, Sports Jockeys, Tattletales, Tipsters, Toastmasters and Coffee Klatch Couples Who Verbalized the Jargon of the Aural Ether from the 1920s to the 1980s—A Biographical Dictionary''. McFarland Publishing, 2007.

External links

''Radio Recall'': Interview with Jim Cox''The Great Radio Sitcoms''. McFarland & Co., 2007.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Jim 21st-century American historians American male non-fiction writers American information and reference writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American male writers