Frosty Forst
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Brian "Frosty" Forst (b. September 6, 1938) was a long-time broadcaster on CKNW radio in Vancouver, British Columbia. He retired in 2005 after about 40 years on the air at the same station.
[edit] Early history
Forst was raised in Vancouver's Kerrisdale neighbourhood. He comes from a well-known local family; the Forst family business was in furniture and appliances and the company had several locations around the lower mainland. Forst Stores sponsored the noon news on the hillbilly station in New Westminster for many years.
Forst graduated from Magee High School in 1956 and proceeded to pursue his passion for radio by taking a training course in broadcasting run by John Ansell of CKWX. Through contacts at school he made a connection with CKPG in north central BC. He arrived in Prince George in 1956 and spent some time in training, but was chosen as Teen Jock at Vancouver's CJOR a year later, replacing Red Robinson. Bruno Cimolai was his co-host at CJOR.
In 1958, Forst returned to AM 600 to read the news, but was forced to leave again. He was so disappointed he started looking elsewhere for work, and spent some time working in a warehouse for a women's undergarment store. Frustration with this job led him to a new North Vancouver station -- CKLG, which was playing to the older MOR crowd -- in 1959.
[edit] Becoming "Frosty"
Forst became "Frosty" in 1960, when he was hired by CFUN. There he teamed up with Al Jordon, Dave McCormick, Ken Chang and Brian Lord to become the Good Guys, who were on air 24 hours a day with modern music, bringing the local radio market into the modern world.
Three years later, a lot of the CFUN staff had moved on. Forst took his father's advice and went to CKNW, where he was hired by program director Hal Davis in 1964. From there he worked his way up to a million dollar salary contract, top ratings, and 31 years as the morning voice of CKNW. His ratings in Canada are unsurpassed.
Forst's life has not always been easy. He has had a number of wives and girlfriends, and sired a second family late in life. Over the course of his career there were court cases, lawsuits and people upset with his comments on the air, but his fans remained faithful and he became the top morning jock in Canada.
