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Press
Releases
07/31/2010
Longtime Panhandle radio broadcaster dead at 86
HEREFORD, Texas (AP) — Longtime Panhandle radio broadcaster Clint Formby, the former president of the Texas Association of Broadcasters and The Associated Press Broadcasters, died early Saturday after a bout with cancer. He was 86.
One of the stations he owned, KPAN in Hereford, announced the death in a statement on its website.
Formby began broadcasting daily commentary as the "Day by Day Philosopher" in October 1955 and was featured on NBC's "Today Show" in 2007 for hosting more than 16,000 episodes of the six-day-a-week program without missing any. He eventually reached 17,000 episodes, according to KPAN, and was billed as having "the longest running consecutive radio broadcast by an individual in the United States."
Formby was nicknamed "mayor" in his Texas Panhandle community of 15,000 people.
"I was born in a small town, you can relate and interrelate with people in a small town," he told the Today Show. "To my way of thinking, they're the salt of the earth."
Formby was president of KPAN and the Hereford Cablevision Co. and chaired the Ranching Heritage Association Center at Texas Tech, where he received his bachelor's degree.
Formby had been a member and chairman of the Texas Tech Board of regents. Besides serving The Associated Press Broadcasters and the Texas Association of Broadcasters, he was the former chairman of the Radio Board of Directors of the National Association of Broadcasters. He served six years on the board of The Associated Press.
His honors included Texas Communicator of the Year by the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Distinguished Alumnus at Texas Tech and Panhandle Citizen of the Year by the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce.
Formby was an Army veteran of World War II. He served 18 months in the European Theater.
His wife, Margaret Formby, a longtime civic leader who helped create the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame, died in 2003.
Funeral arrangements were pending with Hereford Heritage Funeral Home.
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Information from: KPAN-AM, http://www.kpanradio.com
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