Remembering WXRT Founder Danny Lee

• Danny Lee, the architect of the legendary Chicago Triple A WXRT and Sports-Talk sister WSCR (670 The Score) died on Christmas Day at the age of 78. Lee’s daughter Sarna Goldenberg told the Chicago Tribune that her Dad died of cancer. In an online remembrance of Lee, WXRT mainstay Lin Brehmer recalled that when Lee initially hired Norm Winer, who went on to program WXRT for 37 years, he told Winer in no uncertain terms, “I don’t want the best-rated station in Chicago; I want the best %&@#&* radio station in Chicago.”

Winer said of Lee, “He was the best boss I ever had. He was receptive to new ideas. He was not afraid of taking risks. Most people in commercial broadcasting are extremely conservative. Danny was willing to take a shot in certain areas when he thought it was well thought out and when we could convey to him that it was a good idea.”

Former WXRT & WSCR VP/GM Harvey Wells, who currently operates the Radio Reps LLC consultancy, shared his thoughts about his tenure with Danny Lee, telling RAMP, “I feel blessed to have worked for Danny at a very special place during a very special time in radio. I learned so much from him starting as a weekend overnight DJ at WXRT. When he sold to Westinghouse, I was the VP/GM of WXRT and The Score, which he started from a dark frequency. Where else could that happen? His gift as an entrepreneur was to wisely invest in businesses, find the right people and to give those people the freedom to work there as if they were the owners. He leaves a legacy of hundreds of successful people.”