2012 Legacy Inductee
Milt George
1922 - 1999
In 1922, Leonard Milton George was born in Preston, ID. He became interested in radio as a boy, purchasing a crystal radio set. He obtained his First Class amateur radio license with the call letters K4KB and communicated with people all over the world. As a teenager he received his driver’s license, became mobile, and took a weekend job at KVNU in Logan, UT. George entered the University of Idaho in Moscow in 1940 and remained in school until 1943 when he was drafted into the Army. He was assigned to the Armed Forces Radio Corps and sent to Hollywood until being ordered to India to take over a radio station there. While in Hollywood, Milt met Jim Woodruff, Jr. whose father owned radio stations in Georgia. Just before deploying, he married his childhood sweetheart Maryella Sanford. His AFR station brought news and entertainment to the British and American forces in the Burma/India Theater. In 1946, upon his return to the United States, George returned to Idaho to rejoin his wife and planned to get his degree and go to law school. Those plans were interrupted by a phone call from Columbus, Ga.; it was Jim Woodruff offering Milt the job of station manager at WGPC AM in Albany. He accepted the job for one year, but never left. After a few months, Jim asked Milt to go to Atlanta and audit operations at WATL, also owned by Woodruff, Sr. For a brief time, George co managed another Woodruff station, WRAK in Bainbridge. In the early days, George hired teenagers from the local high school to produce a Saturday morning show for the kids. One of those teens was Ray Stevens, who went on to achieve success with novelty hits such as “Ahab the Arab”, “Guitarzan”, “The Streak” and “Everything Is Beautiful”. George eventually became a part owner with Jim Woodruff and Joe Gamble. In the 1960’s WGPC FM station was built. Milt eventually bought out Gamble and upon Jim Woodruff’s death in 1977, became sole owner of WGPC AM-FM. In addition to owning and managing the radio station, George was active in the Georgia Association of Broadcasters and served on Albany’s Military Affairs Committee. He was a longtime member of the Rotary Club of Albany and a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
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© Georgia Radio Hall Of Fame Corporation, 2012