Don Richards
Don (Breitkreutz) was from the New England area, raised in Connecticut, and a graduate of Valparaiso University. He served with the U.S. Army in Korea from 1964-1967 and was a radio/TV news anchor with the Armed Forces Korean Network. He moved to Tampa Bay with his family in 1980 from Worcester, MA, where he had been a newsman for WTAG-AM and was appointed news and program director for News Talk Radio WPLP.
In 1988, when Susquehanna Broadcasting bought the small Pinellas Park AM, Don and a number of others from the station were let go. That ownership change and “house cleaning” turned out to be a blessing in disguise because he landed a position with WFLA as a news man. Three years later he was upped to news director. Most likely his biggest claim to fame was a six-minute on-air interview in 1998 with Hank Earl Carr who had taken a hostage in a Hernando County gas station after killing his girlfriend’s son and three police officers.
After his battle with lung cancer had forced him to stop working at WFLA the previous November, Don passed away June 6, 2008 at the age of 65.
Station History
1980 - 2008 Other Tampa Bay Area Stations (News)
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