Longtime central Maine radio personality Don Brown died Thursday because of complications from multiple strokes. He was 77.
Augusta-based radio station 92 Moose said in an online post Friday morning that Brown was the creator of the Love Fund and served in local radio for decades, including WABK, WKCG and, most recently, Cruisin’ 93.5 in Waterville. He had been on the air for about 49 years.
“Our thoughts, prayers and condolences are with his family, friends and the hundreds of people he worked with and touched over the years,” Matt James, of 92 Moose, wrote in the post.
In 2006, Brown was inducted into the Maine Broadcasting Hall of Fame, and in 2011 he was honored with the Citizen of the Year award from Le Club Calumet, the Augusta-based Franco-American club.
In a 2012 interview with the Kennebec Journal, Brown talked about leaving WABK’s morning show and said that he and Blueberry Broadcasting LLC “parted company amicably.”
Brown, whose real name was Don Wormwood, was known for his deep gruff voice on the early morning radio.
“I’ve been in radio and television since 1957,” Brown said in the 2012 interview. “I’ve been around 44 years in the Augusta area. Maybe it’s time.”
His first job was on a talk show on WIDE in Biddeford while he was still in high school. The television years were 1957 to 1965, working on “The Dave Astor Show (For Teenagers Only).”
Many people in central Maine grew up listening to the voice of Don Brown in the morning on WABK-FM 104.3.
“Don was truly a radio original, sort of a throwback to days when radio was really important to peoples’ lives,” Steve Smith, Brown’s operations manager from 1994 to 2009, said in 2012.
“When you woke up in the morning and heard Don Brown on, you knew everything was OK,” Smith said. “You graduated high school with Don Brown, got married with Don Brown, had your kids with Don Brown, and then your grandkids with Don Brown. There will never be that kind of career again — one person in one community.”
In 2012, Brown said he and his wife, Priscilla, had seven children and 19 grandchildren between them, and “they’re a great joy.”
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