Lytle "Duke" Young, former owner of KFMY, Oregon's first Stereo FM station, has passed away at the age of 86.

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2003/12/17/d4.cr.dukeobit.1217.html

A True Radio Pioneer. Sad to hear this. Thank You so much for posting Randy. Excellent article/obit on his life.

Where else can we read things like this out side of Eugene or where ever. pdxradio brings it all together for us.

I'm sure a number of PDX Radio posters have taken classes from Duke's son, Jeff Young at MHCC.

This is truly sad for me. Just last month I had a dream about Duke. It was amazing because in the dream I was standing in his office at KFMY and could see all the stuff that used to hang on the walls, including a pair of boxing gloves and a handwritten sign that said "Yard by yard, life is hard. Inch by inch, life's a cinch." I always have remembered that saying on Duke's wall. Gary T hired me to work for KFMY in 1975 after going to Lane Community College and taking Jeff's classes. We all learned so much from Duke. At the time he made us nuts because we were young and thought we knew everything, and what could he possibly know about the music we were playing. But as I look at things now, the things he would tell us and the point he would make was absolutely correct. I really was fond of him, and I adored Hazel, his wife who was the traffic director. It was Duke's world of radio, and he did things his own way. On any level, you have to admire that. It was Duke's world, we were just broadcasting in it.

A lot of us went through KFMY. It's where Marty and I met. Good times on "the ridgetop". And of course Duke's son, Jeff Young, continues to influence generations of broadcasters through the Mt. Hood Community College radio program.

Thanks Duke, for the opportunity, and for your patience with a little hot headed rocker. I'll see you in dreams to come when I need your advice again.

I grew up with the "Young boys," Jeff, Tim and Mike just a couple blocks away and in my grade school classes, scouts, etc. Duke was one of my early "hero's" and I remember begging my mom to drive me downtown to see him do remotes at the Tiffany Davis drug store friday afternoons on KUGN. As an early role model, he was one of the reasons I wanted to get into broadcasting.

God bless you Duke.

I never met the man, but his spirit remains in Jeff Young's classroom. I learned a lot from Jeff in the year I was at MHCC. Not so much the bookwork or classwork, but just the way the politics work in every day life. He would talk about his dad almost every day in class...the man was a radio-genius.

The most important thing he taught me, was that the best jocks are also the best.....LISTENERS! I had the worst possible listening skills a year ago, and now...it's the reason I landed a full-time gig.

Rest in Peace Duke...and condolences to Jeff and family...

Word.