Condolences: Beau Richards
• Lately it seems that we just can’t get through a day without hearing of the passing of yet another longtime radio pro — Beau Richards (real name: Paul Vincent DeMiere Jr.) died August 11 from a heart attack at the age of 70. That news was broken by his son, Paul DeMiere, in a Facebook post. That’s Paul (left), sister Emily and their Dad.
As Paul recounts, his father’s passion for radio “took our family on an unforgettable journey across the country — making homes and memories in Flint, MI; Charleston, SC; San Angelo, TX; Montgomery, AL; Terre Haute, IN; Spokane, WA; Austin, TX; Boise, ID; Melbourne, FL; Fargo, ND; Plymouth, MA; Alexandria, LA; Los Angeles, CA; Effingham, IL; Nashville, TN, and countless towns in between.”
Among the highlights: Richards notably flipped AC WMGI (Magic 101)/Terre Haute, IN to 100.7 Mix FM on Jan 1, 1995, and was co-host of the popular “Beau & Mike In The Morning” alongside Mike Echols (now Chair of the Communication Dept. at Bergen Community College), who posted his own Facebook tribute to his former partner.
Veteran programmer Steve Smith tells RAMP, “Beau left WMGI in mid-1997, a few months after he gave me my first full-time job doing nights.” Richards later connected Smith with Jan Jeffries, who hired him at Cumulus Top 40 WHHY/Montgomery, AL.
Richards’ extensive resume also included KIXY/San Angelo, TX, KQID/Alexandria, LA, WAOA/Melbourne and WQOL/Vero Beach, FL, Promo Only, KHFI/Austin, KLUC/Las Vegas, WCKG/Chicago, WWKX/Nashville, and WBSB/Baltimore. In recent years, Beau and daughter Emily ran their own festival merchandise business, Concert Alien. [Photo from Facebook]
