{"id":34918,"date":"2026-09-01T06:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T12:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/?page_id=34918"},"modified":"2026-09-01T06:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T12:36:10","slug":"jack-garretson","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/jack-garretson\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Garretson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Dreams do come true. And if you\u2019re 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 \u2013 the exact<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore my senior year in high school, a good friend of mine and I were out riding around on a Sunday afternoon,\u201d explains Garretson. \u201cWe 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\u2019s something I’d like to do right there.\u201d<\/p>\n

While in college at the University of Alabama Garretson experienced his first lucky break.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d says Garretson. \u201c 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!\u201d <\/p>\n

It was during this time that Garretson became known as \u201cTiger Jack\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I had a few beers before my shift, and I was really getting kind of loud,\u201d laughs Garretson.  \u201cA guy who called in a request said, \u2018Man, you’re roaring like a tiger tonight.\u2019  So, it kind of evolved from that over the years to \u201cTiger Jack\u201d in 1965.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Garretson got married; a baby was on the way. He decided he needed to get a \u201creal\u201d job and got hired at B.F. Goodrich where he worked for thirty years then retired. That\u2019s when Garretson got a call.<\/p>\n

\u201cJimmy Shaw calls me and says, \u2018I’ve got a sponsor that wants to put you on an oldies format kind of show on Saturday mornings,\u2019\u201d Garretson relayed.<\/p>\n

At first Garretson wasn\u2019t on board but he was finally convinced to give it a go.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou 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\u201d, says Jimmy Shaw, president of WJRD. \u201d We’re an oldies station, so his show on Saturday morning is just a perfect fit for us.\u201d <\/p>\n

Sponsors from way back in Garretson\u2019s career sponsor him still.\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sponsors he’s got are very successful retailers in town, and they’ve been with Jack, even before I got involved with him,\u201d says Shaw.  \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garretson is now 83 and  his second shot at a dream job has lasted 24 years and counting.<\/p>\n

\u201c I understand the imitations that age puts on us sometimes and they don’t seem to be apparent with Jack,\u201d smiles Shaw. \u201cHe just like an Energizer bunny. He just keeps going. \u201c<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cThis has enabled me to meet so many people, so many different types of people and, people of varied interest,\u201d smiles Garretson. \u201cI’ve enjoyed every minute of it\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dreams do come true. And if you\u2019re 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 \u2013 the exact job. For his longevity in broadcasting and for the … Continue reading Jack Garretson<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-34918","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34918"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34930,"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34918\/revisions\/34930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/al-ba.com\/wp2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}