Aw shucks, people just can't seem to get enough information about Lem Hawkins, the radio guy with the down-home sense of humor.
Neighbors recently ran a story about Lemuel Q. Hawkins, the radio name of Earl King, who was a popular entertainer in Fargo-Moorhead for 40 years and who died in 1974 at age 70.
A former local resident shares personal observations about him.
He's Elmer Nord, Canton, Ga., who says the previous story about Lem "brought back many fond memories of a wonderful and fun-loving gentleman.
"Back in the '60s," Elmer writes, "when I was working at Froelich Marine in Moorhead and attending Moorhead State University, Lem would often stop by the boat center and entertain us with a vast array of funny stories.
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"Frank Froelich advertised on Lem's program, so I am sure Lem was doing his PR work; however, we were honored with much more than our share of his time.
"Lem had a great love for boating and fishing, and he eventually bought a boat from Frank. I had the privilege of working on his boat a number of times that often required trips to Pelican Lake in the evenings for test runs.
"These were wonderful times that concluded with him treating me to dinner on the way home from the lake. For a struggling college kid, this was a big deal.
"We became good friends through boating, and I even dated his granddaughter a couple of times; she occasionally visited her grandparents from another state. She was also a neat person and had much of Lem's dynamic personality.
"My love for classic country music to this day was greatly influenced long ago by Lem's country music show on KFGO. The old radio in the Froelich Marine shop area was tuned to KFGO and we 'snatched' the tuning knob off so nobody could change the station.
"Upon graduation from college, I moved away from Fargo and regretfully lost touch with Lem."
As the late Forum writer Jim Baccus wrote in 1983, "I can't find anybody who didn't like Lem Hawkins. He had a local radio voice familiar as Missouri sow belly and he had a likeable personality."
He shore 'nuff did.
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If you have an item of interest for this column, mail it to Neighbors, The Forum, P.O. Box 2020, Fargo, ND 58107; fax it to 241-5487;
