Don Kennedy's illustrious radio career commenced in 1943 with a humble, half-watt homemade radio station in the basement of his parents' home in Beaver, Pennsylvania, his birthplace.
After honing his skills as an announcer at WPIC in Sharon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Youngstown, Ohio, in 1947, Kennedy continued to refine his craft while attending college, broadcasting news, sports scores, and music programs at WBVP in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
Following his military service as a radio studio manager in a psychological warfare unit during the Korean War, Kennedy anchored the eleven o'clock news at WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia, before being assigned to host a children's show that would go on to amass the largest audience of any local program in the nation.
In 1960, Kennedy established WKLS-FM in Atlanta, serving as President and General Manager, and also set up and led the Georgia Network and Florida Network, two pioneering state news networks in the United States.
In 1976, his company brought Atlanta's channel 36, WATL-TV back to the air. Throughout his career, Kennedy has received numerous accolades, including the Silver Circle Award, two Emmys from the Atlanta Chapter of NATAS, the Pioneer Broadcaster and Georgia Broadcaster's Hall of Fame awards from the Georgia Association of Broadcasters, and honorary membership in the Di Gamma Kappa Broadcast Fraternity at the University of Georgia.
In addition to his broadcasting endeavors, Kennedy has held various leadership roles, including President of the Georgia Chapter of Muscular Dystrophy, treasurer of the Atlanta Humane Society, and board member of the Atlanta Cancer Society.
In recent years, Kennedy has served as network coordinator for the Atlanta Braves radio network, the Georgia Tech Football and Basketball networks, and syndicated a now-defunct weekly BIG BAND JUMP radio program, which was once heard on one hundred stations in thirty-two states, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
As an accomplished voice actor, Kennedy has provided voices for several cartoon characters on cable's Cartoon Network and narrated award-winning documentaries seen on the nine television stations of Georgia Public Television.
Furthermore, Kennedy is a regular volunteer reader for the Georgia Radio Reading Service for the Blind. He currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia.
