Jack Harris
Jack Harris began his radio career at WVOW in Logan, West Virginia right out of high school where he graduated Valedictorian of his senior class. He went on to receive a B.A. in History from West Virginia University and later spent two years in the Army and a stint in Vietnam. Allowing for his time in the service, Jack put in almost ten years at WAJR in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Jack joined 970-WFLA in 1970, saying he knew nothing about music, or very little anyway, and claimed he was never a disc jockey – simply a communicator trying to create a mood. In 1974 he left to work for WRC and WKYS in Washington, D.C., but returned to the Tampa station the following year.
In addition to his WFLA work, Jack hosted mornings on Q105 WRBQ from 1985 to 1989 and WFLA’s sister-station 93.3 WFLZ from 1989-1993. He was on the broadcast team of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and did the coaches’ show for five years, was with the Tampa Bay Bandits, and became the voice of the Tampa Bay Rowdies and USF basketball. He also had his own daily half-hour show on WFLA-TV Channel 8, Harris Live, and made regular appearances on Channel 13’s Pulse Plus.
On Wednesday 3/29/23, the 81-year old Harris, whose show was trimmed from four hours in the morning to two in Dec. 2021, was let go from WFLA at the end of his show and wasn’t even given a chance to say goodbye to his many listeners. The iHeart suits said they were cutting back on expenses.
You can check out a couple of Jack’s “bits” in Audio Clips which he released on a 45 rpm record in 1973 - “The Floridians (A Yankee’s Opinion)” and “Vern Garber, The World’s Pogo Stick Champion” with Beecher Martin as Vern.
Station History
1970 - 1974 Other Tampa Bay Area Stations (On Air Personality)
1975 - 2023 Other Tampa Bay Area Stations (On Air Personality)
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