LOUISVILLE, Ky. — “Hi, I’m Wayne Perkey and who the heck are you and what the heck are you doing in my studio?” And with those words a friendship that would last over 40 years began.
Hi, my name is Ken Schulz and from 1978 until 1996 I was the WHAS Radio’s morning meteorologist and part of Wayne Perkey’s Morning Team.
I’d like to spend just a moment of your time adding to the countless others who knew Wayne, who are deeply saddened by his passing and wish to share a memory or two about a great guy.
I don’t want to say that Wayne was my mentor because I don’t want to do a disservice to his legacy, but he most certainly was. I would love to say that ours was a friendship where we made each other better but Wayne was already an icon when I arrived on the scene and he didn’t need any help from me.
I was definitely on the receiving end of many more benefits from our relationship than he was. Every success I ever had in broadcasting and public speaking I owe to that man.
In broadcasting there is a common lament that so much “good stuff” happens after the TV camera or radio microphone have been turned off but the magic of the Wayne Perkey radio show was that all the good stuff happened on air and live. Wayne was a master of his craft and brought out the best in all who surrounded him. He was the star of the show but insisted on sharing the spotlight and we all benefited from his genius.
He had a listen first mentality, so rare these days. It’s possible that was my greatest takeaway from our time working together.
Favorite memory? Too many to do justice to the question. But one image remains forever with me was when he was interviewing Colonel Harland Sanders who kept referring to Wayne as Dwight. Dwight, I mean Wayne never blinked an eye or corrected the Colonel. Wayne would not want anyone to be uncomfortable around him.
A favorite quote? Maybe one in particular. Wayne challenged me “to pause during each day in my career at WHAS to understand that these would be forever my “good ol’ days.” He was so right.
In the past few years Wayne and I would get together a couple of times a year to reminisce about those good ol’ days at WHAS but more importantly just to listen to one another one more time.
I am really going to miss that and him.
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