Pictured (l-r): Patty Peterson, Wayne Selly, Warren Gerecke, at the preview of the new Jazz88 facility at the North CTE Center, July 16, 2024.
We are sorry to announce the loss of one of the longtime members of the Jazz88 team. Wayne Selly died Monday, November 4, following a brief illness. He was 80. Wayne had been KBEM’s engineer up to the early 2010s, and hosted Sinatra & Friends here since about 2000. More recently he did venue remote audio work for visiting radio stations at high profile sporting events. He had been in the business a long time, starting at KSTP in 1962 right as he was finishing high school and enrolling at Brown Institute. He was an early jock at 92 KQRS when ‘classic’ rock was the hot new stuff. One of his last concerns, passed along from the hospital by a family friend, was making sure I knew to schedule a rerun for Sunday. We plan to carry encore presentations of Sinatra & Friends until at least the end of calendar 2024 in Wayne’s honor. On the air recently, we revisited this special about Wayne’s impact on KBEM history in his own words, created as part of our 50th anniversary.
-Travis Ryder
From the obituary about why the family would like donations to be given to Jazz88/KBEM in Wayne’s memory:
“In lieu of gifts and flowers, please consider a donation to KBEM at Jazz88.fm, in Wayne’s name. Wayne worked at KBEM for many years. It’s a radio station housed in an inner city High School, and their programming includes mentoring students for careers in broadcasting. Wayne loved working with these kids.”
Here is Wayne discussing his work at Jazz88/KBEM:
https://exchange.prx.org/pieces/419478-kbem-s-first-50-years-wayne-selly
The Pioneer Press ran his obituary on Sunday, Nov. 10. Here is a link:
More Posts for Show: Sinatra & Friends