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Lee Kinard prepares to play a record at WABZ in 1949.
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Kinard inducted into broadcasting hall of fame
Concord native remembers days at Albemarle radio station
Sunday, September 14, 2008 — Television pioneer Dr. Lee W. Kinard, Jr. joins the ranks of Grady Cole, Edward R. Murrow and Lowell Thomas as a recent inductee into the N.C. Association of Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame.
On July 20, Kinard was inducted during a ceremony held in Asheville, receiving one of the highest honors given by the organization.
In addition to his induction, Kinard is also celebrating 50 years in the area of broadcasting, 42 of which he spent at WFMY-TV in Greensboro.
“It’s obviously the most significant award one can receive in this field,” Kinard said in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon.
Stanly County residents may remember Kinard during his radio days at WABZ, where he began in March 1949 at 17. The Concord native came to the station while he was a student at Pfeiffer College.
His beginnings at WABZ were humble. His initial duties there included janitorial work and filing records. He eventually worked his way up to disc jockey and producer.
Kinard dropped out of Pfeiffer after his first year, and in 1952, he, along with the station’s manager, Bill Page, attorney Staton Williams, chiropractor Joe Ivester and poultry farmer Keith Almond became part owners of WABZ.
He left Albemarle and the station in 1956 with his wife, the former Anne Courtney Milton, an Albemarle native, at his side. They’ve been married for 56 years.
The Kinards went all the way north...to Greensboro, where Lee’s talents would land him a position at WFMY-TV, the Triad’s CBS affiliate. For the next 40-plus years there, he hosted “The Good Morning Show,” and anchored the evening broadcasts.
Kinard, who has authored three books, took the opportunity to complete his formal education, receiving his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral (Ed.D) degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG).
He retired from WFMY in December 1999 and has since then been the executive assistant to the president at Guilford Technical Com-munity College.
Kinard paid slight homage to The Stanly News & Press during Thursday’s interview, in which he recalled WABZ’s general manager at the time rushing down West North Street from the radio station’s location under what was known as Albemarle Hotel to retrieve one of the first papers hot off the press on Thursdays.
He would then proceed to rip out three ads, which Kinard would use as the three main commercials during his 1-5 p.m. air shift. This may have resulted in some competition for ads between the two media outlets, though no proof has surfaced.
“I’m just honored to be a part of this great list of my contemporaries and role models,” Kinard said, summing up his feelings towards his induction and life’s work.
Dexter Hinson can be contacted by email at snaponline21@carolina.rr.com.
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