Jay Blackburn dead at 65

Successful radio programmer J. Douglas “Jay” Blackburn died Friday (9/3) in his sleep. He was 65.

According to the obituary from the Porter Loring Mortuary North in San Antonio, TX, Blackburn had retired in 1990 after breaking his neck in a martial arts accident. The fused area was broken again in an auto accident in 1993.

Blackburn had a long and successful career in radio, having programmed dozens of stations both in the US and internationally. The career success he was most proud of was creating “The Loop,” WLUP-FM Chicago, taking the #1 place among five rock stations in Chicago in 1980. The Loop went on to become a legendary station for 30 years. The veteran radio programmer captured many of his exploits in a thinly-veiled novel, “The Radio Gypsies,” published in 2008.

The funeral for Jay Blackburn will take place Tuesday (9/7) morning at the Porter Loring Mortuary North in San Antonio, TX. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Make a Wish Foundation, 7823 W. US Highway 90, San Antonio, TX 78227, or to the Animal Defense League, 11300 Nacogdoches, San Antonio, TX 78217.

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