I must correct my Tuesday report on KJAM's new general manager. I learned in a happy Main Street meeting with old guy Lorin Larsen and new guy Kurt Luchs that our man Lorin really is leaving KJAM. Kurt will take over as general manager and Lorin will seek his next big media adventure.
I'm pleased to say that congratulations rather than commisserations are in order. Lorin says the parting is amicable, and he's happy to have some time to do some family things, like seeing his 73-year-old father get remarried at the end of this month.
Lorin went straight to work at KJAM from his undergrad days at Dakota State College. He walked in for his first day at the station on April 1, 1985, when the building still stank from smoke from the fire the burned down the Main Event two doors down the street. He has spent 26 years at KJAM, and he's still under 50. Lots of work left in that media horse.
Of course, even as we wish Lorin well on whatever comes next in his career, we are all the more eager to see what if any changes new GM Kurt Luchs will bring with his first foray into the South Dakota airwaves. Keep those dials tuned....
Bonus History: Learn more about KJAM in my December 2009 post on the station's 50th anniversary.