Harrison Holliway
|
HARRISON HOLLIWAY was born in San Francisco in 1900.
Graduating from Lowell High, he studied law at Stanford. Meanwhile,
however, he had become vitally interested in radio,
first as an amateur operator when he
established a long distance record for the Pacific Coast and later
as commercial operator at sea. He assisted in the installation of
the original 50-watt KFRC station of which he has been manager since
1924. In conjunction with his executive duties he acts as
master of ceremonies on special programs.
— from Stars Of The Radio, 1932 Edition |
Harrison Holliway's life revolved around radio from the time he built his first radio
receiver at age eleven. In 1922, he took a leave of absence from Stanford and, along with
friend Harold Shaw, installed and operated KSL, the short-lived Emporium Department Store
station. He and two friends, Harold Peery and Alan Cormack, started KFRC in 1924 with two
investors, Jim Threlkeld and Thomas Catton. The station changed hands in 1925 to the
City of
Paris Department Store, and again in 1926 to auto dealer Don Lee. It quickly became one
of the best stations on the West Coast, and Holliway was its Manager and Announcer. He rode the success of the station throughout the years of the Columbia-Don Lee Network,
and then was named General Manager of KFI in Los Angeles in 1935.
He passed away suddenly in 1942 at the age of 42. Harrison
Holliway was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in 2006 as a member
of the first class to be honored. |
