Dreams do come true. And if you’re Jack Garretson, dreams come true twice! Garretson got his dream job in radio as a very young man. He stepped away from broadcasting for over thirty years, but after retirement he got his dream job back – the exact job. For his longevity in broadcasting and for the delight he takes in being a radio disc jockey, the ABA is more than pleased to induct Jack Garretson into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

“Before my senior year in high school, a good friend of mine and I were out riding around on a Sunday afternoon,” explains Garretson. “We stopped by the local roller rank. There was a radio station disc jockey in there doing a remote broadcast, and the teenagers were flocked around him and having a good time. I thought that’s something I’d like to do right there.”

While in college at the University of Alabama Garretson experienced his first lucky break.

“I was taking a history class and just by chance, I sat down next to a guy who was the top disc jockey at WTBC here in Tuscaloosa,” says Garretson. “ He invited me out to the radio station, and after that, he told me they had an opening for the midnight shift if I was interested. He helped me get the job in September of 1963 working midnight to six for a buck and a quarter!” 

It was during this time that Garretson became known as “Tiger Jack”.

“Well, I had a few beers before my shift, and I was really getting kind of loud,” laughs Garretson.  “A guy who called in a request said, ‘Man, you’re roaring like a tiger tonight.’  So, it kind of evolved from that over the years to “Tiger Jack” in 1965.”

Garretson got married; a baby was on the way. He decided he needed to get a “real” job and got hired at B.F. Goodrich where he worked for thirty years then retired. That’s when Garretson got a call.

“Jimmy Shaw calls me and says, ‘I’ve got a sponsor that wants to put you on an oldies format kind of show on Saturday mornings,’” Garretson relayed.

At first Garretson wasn’t on board but he was finally convinced to give it a go.

“You know, he’s got the magic, people that love doing what they do, they can convey that some way or another, and he loves it, and he shows it, and people enjoy listening to him”, says Jimmy Shaw, president of WJRD. ” We’re an oldies station, so his show on Saturday morning is just a perfect fit for us.” 

Sponsors from way back in Garretson’s career sponsor him still.

“The sponsors he’s got are very successful retailers in town, and they’ve been with Jack, even before I got involved with him,” says Shaw.  “The other other two sponsors have been with him for several years now too, so it’s something that’s very easy for us to sell.”

“I always enjoyed running my mouth, I guess. And when I was young and first getting started, I enjoyed the notoriety and the publicity and meeting people. It was fun. Radio in the 60s was really different than it is now.  It was just fun.”

Garretson is now 83 and  his second shot at a dream job has lasted 24 years and counting.

“ I understand the imitations that age puts on us sometimes and they don’t seem to be apparent with Jack,” smiles Shaw. “He just like an Energizer bunny. He just keeps going. “

“This has enabled me to meet so many people, so many different types of people and, people of varied interest,” smiles Garretson. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it”.