Wizard of the Wind (Hardcover)

As a boy Jimmy Gill is mesmerized by his late mother's old console radio. Through the airwaves he discovers a fabulous new world that, in the 1950s, is just entering a "golden age" of rock, with such phenomena as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Fats Domino. With his young black friend Detroit Simmons, Jimmy traces the sound to a tatty building just beyond his own back door: radio station WROG. Totally by accident Jimmy and Detroit become involved with the station, beginning careers in broadcasting at very young ages. Along the way they encounter the mad, creative, colorful characters who are changing the musical landscape. With technical help from the ever-ethical Detroit as well as financial backing by rather more unsavory fellows, Jimmy progresses from owning a budding FM station to building a media empire of radio and cable television networks. He also falls in love with a beautiful country music star, Cleo Michaels. As his success sours to greed, Jimmy Gill begins to lose touch with the magic of the medium that first grabbed him by the soul. Only when shady dealings that helped to build his career threaten to topple it does he reach back to the forces that have truly shaped his life: the support of loyal friends and the inimitable warm embrace of regional radio.