Gordon McLendon

Gordon Barton McLendon was a radio pioneer and pirate radio broadcaster. He was nicknamed the Maverick of Radio. McLendon is widely credited for perfecting, during the 1950s and 1960s, the commercially successful Topradio format created by Todd Storz. He also developed offshore pirate radio broadcasting to both Scandinavia and the British Isles. In addition, he was active in circles of conservative businesspolitical power in the 1960s until the time of his death.

McLendon was born in a hospital in Paris, Texas, and spent his early childhood in Oklahoma. The family moved to Atlanta, Texas where he attended high school and began to develop his interest in broadcasting. He covered sports events and broadcast commentary over the schools public address system. He graduated from Kemper Military Academy. He won a nationwide politicalessay contest judged by journalists Arthur Brisbane, Henry Luce, and Walter Lippmann. After being accepted to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, he decided to attend Yale because it was the only school that didnt offer him a scholarship. At Yale, he was editor of the Yale Literary Magazine and a member of Skull and Bones. McLendon fought in World War II and was commissioned as an intelligence officer in the Office of Naval Intelligence. He was later reassigned, giving him the opportunity to extend his style of commentary to political events over a United States Armed Forces Radio Service station. He then briefly attended Harvar

Source: Wikipedia