Bill Cherry
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William Speakman Cherry (born in Galveston, Texas, USA on June 20, 1940) is a former radio broadcaster.
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[edit] Early history
Cherry was born to life insurance executive William Wallace Cherry and Naomi Speakman Cherry. At age 14 he began working as a rhythm and blues radio disc jockey in 1954 at KGBC-AM. His air name was Brokenhearted Bill.
He wrote and sold his first feature story at 16 for the April 25, 1957 edition of the Sunday Houston Chronicle Rotogravure Magazine. Since then, he has written pieces for Fortune Magazine, The Houston Business Journal, The Baytown Sun, The Victoria Advocate, In-Between Magazine, The Dallas Morning News, The Galveston County Daily News, and The Huntsville Item.
[edit] Stage career
While attending Tulane University in New Orleans in the late '50s, from a Royal Street furniture store's show window in the historic French Quarter, Cherry hosted the famed American Airlines Music 'til Dawn program on 50,000 watt clear channel WWL (AM). Cherry performed under hot Klieg stage lighting and in a tuxedo with red dinner jacket. The lights made the interior of the show window so hot that he frequently wore shorts rather than tux pants since the board console's modesty panel hid all but from his waist up.
(American Airlines aired this program with different hosts in every major market that the airlines served. The most famous was arguably Dallas' Hugh Lampman on KRLD AM whom some credit as having created the program's concept.)
Cherry was also a substitute WWL AM radio host of the nightly broadcasts from the Roosevelt Hotel's Blue Room. (Many will remember this familiar intro: "From the Blue Room of the Roosevelt Hotel adjacent to New Orleans' famous French Quarter, it's the music of Leon Kellner and his orchestra with the vocal stylings of the lovely Miss Patricia Arnell....Tonight's star is Vaughn Monroe. I'm your host, Bill Cherry.")
[edit] Personal life
In 1961, he married well-known St. Louis classical and jazz concert pianist and Vogue fashion model, Judy Fosher. They traveled as a team, each playing different venues. Cherry performed at the piano at such spots as the St. Louis Playboy Club, New York Waldorf-Astoria, Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles, Blackstone Hotel in Chicago and the Chase-Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis.
In 1963 Judy died at 24 from a heart attack. The following year, Bill returned to the University of North Texas in Denton for additional studies. During this time, he served for a brief period as the second manager of the university's radio station, KNTU-FM.
[edit] Other business interests
In 1967 Cherry went to work as the NASD Registered Financial Principal for Securities Management & Research, Inc. Later he joined Guaranty Federal Savings and Loan Association as vice president and head of their real estate investment company, and as their commercial lending officer.
In 1970, Cherry married accountant, fashion model and artist Sandra (Sandy) McKnight. They divorced in 1989.
In 1973, Cherry joined Columbia Communities in Houston where he was vice president of residential home building. They built some 5,000 homes, apartments, condominiums and town houses in Houston, Seabrook, and the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex. The company also obtained Houston's first cablevision franchise and built and provided the first cablevision to the city's homes.
In 1975 along with business partner Steven Jay Rudy, Cherry founded The Old House Company, Real Estate Brokers in Galveston and Houston, where he concentrated his practice toward the field of historical home and commercial building restoration. It became the largest real estate brokerage firm in Galveston County and a noted competitor in the Houston Museum District.
For twenty years, Cherry was the historical real estate consultant for George and Cynthia Mitchell who adaptively restored and leased millions of dollars worth of Galveston's rich collection of 19th century iron front buildings in the historic business district known as the Strand.
Cherry served as an adjunct professor at St. Thomas University in Houston and at Galveston College. Cherry taught finance, economics and investments. He also briefly taught English composition and argumentation and debate at Dallas' Thomas Jefferson High School.
For ten years Cherry wrote a very popular weekly column for "The Galveston County Daily News" titled, Bill Cherry’s Galveston Memories. Out of the 500 columns, a book of 60 of the first columns, also titled Bill Cherry's Galveston Memories (ISBN 0-9666438-4-4), was published in 2000 by VanJus Press. The book was dedicated to his family members, some former teachers and professors who had influenced him, and to his friend, commedian-musician Steve Allen, who died as the book was going to press. Thousands have sold nationwide, primarily by Barnes & Noble and amazon.com.
In 2001, Bill began doing on camera television features titled Bill Cherry's Memories, for News 24-Houston. It was voted the station's most popular feature.
[edit] Other post-radio activity
Now living in Dallas with his psychotherapist LPC third wife, the former Patricia (Patty) Bowers, who was one of his college sweethearts, Cherry continues to write, do voice-overs for commercial films, and play piano for weddings, receptions, and dinner parties. He is also a popular after-dinner story teller, entertaining church groups and business clubs.
Cherry remains engaged in his forty year career as a real estate consultant and tax arbitrator. He is also a highly regarded expert witness in trials involving real estate, business and bankruptcy matters (http://www.comm.unt.edu/books/comm%20newsletter%202003.pdf). He credits his trial ability to his debate experience and training under Dr. William DeMougeot at the University of North Texas.
His monthly Galveston history columns appear in the web magazine www.texasescapes.com.
[edit] Legacy
Because of his radio work, in 2005 Bill was elected as a Premier Member of the Texas Radio Hall of Fame.
