Mark Arum, Don Sutton inducted into 2017 Georgia Radio Hall of Fame
Posted Saturday, October 21, 2017 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Atlanta Braves announcer Don Sutton and News 95.5 and AM 750 traffic and talk show host Mark Arum were inducted into the 2017 class of the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame Saturday at the Strand Theatre in Marietta.
"I"m a very fortunate man," said Sutton, 72, a former pitcher who was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. "It never entered my mind once to think of this as a possibility. I am honored to be part of this."
His second career as a broadcaster largely with the Atlanta Braves led him into the Braves Hall of Fame in 2015.
Sutton on the dais said he got his start in radio while still playing baseball. Back before free agency, players often worked odd jobs off season and one year, he became a weekend disc jockey and emceed at a nightclub in Los Angeles. Ernie Johnson, he said, helped him eventually get a gig with TBS in 1989 after retiring from pitching following an illustrious 22-year career mostly with the Dodgers.
He gave credit to the late Pete Van Wieren for teaching him the craft of broadcasting.
Arum - who does traffic for both WSB TV and radio in the mornings and hosts an evening talk show on WSB's news/talk station - began his radio career with WSB in 1997. At just age 43, he is the youngest inductee in the Hall of Fame's 11-year existence.
"Shout out to my drunk friends in the back," said Arum, whose posse from both his traffic and talk show teams yelped enthusiastically. He then apologized to his mom. She asked if she should come and he insisted he wasn't going to actually get in so he told her to stay home.
"I'm only here because I've ridden the coattails of a lot of Hall of Famers," he said, listing several including Scott Slade, Kirk Mellish, Condace Pressley, Kelly McCoy and Steve Holman. He also thanked three mentors: WSB radio news director Chris Camp, who hired him; current program director Pete Spriggs and the late traffic master Capt. Herb Emory.
Emory "taught me how to do traffic, how to do radio and how to be a man," Arum said, giving a nod to Karen Emory, his widow. (Emory died of a heart attack in 2014 after helping motorists involved in a traffic accident.)
WSB Radio's Sabrina Gibbons-Cupit and V-103's Frank Ski were among five nominees who didn't make the final cut.
Other inductees:
- Chip Lyness, partner and manager of WDDK/WULK in Greensboro and does sports play by play for the station
- Gail Daniels, long-time Macon radio personality
- Tom Giglio, former chief engineer at WQXI-AM, 94Q and Star 94, who retired in 2006 after 45 years in radio.
- Shirley Ellis, "Mama Mia" on WRVB FM in Macon
- David Cohen, Georgia State University sports announcer for 35 years who graduated Walton High School and GSU. "I never thought I'd be there 35 years but in my time there through 13 athletic directors, nine basketball coaches, five baseball coaches and I'm on my third football coach," he said on stage. "Every one has been a pleasure to work with."
WSB Radio and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are both part of Cox Media Group.
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
