Wayne Eddy

Inducted 2007

Through more than 40 years in broadcasting, Wayne Eddy has been a champion of hometown radio.  The St. Paul native and Brown Institute graduate landed his first radio job at WTMB in Tomah, Wisconsin, in 1964.  In 1966 he moved to Austin, doing both TV weather and radio with KAUS.  He found his real niche in 1968 when he started a 1,000-watt daytime AM station in Northfield.  His voice launched KYMN on September 27, 1968, and for the next 34 years he served as owner, manager, and morning host.  Eddy guided KYMN to many accomplishments, including pioneering AM Stereo in the Midwest in 1983, but what really made the station a success was Eddy’s connection to the community.  He has worked tirelessly as co-founder of the Northfield Historical Society and with many other civic and charitable organizations, and is a veteran re-enactor in Northfield’s annual “Defeat of Jesse James Days” celebrations.  He served as president of the Minnesota Broadcasters Association, and helped develop new educational programs as chair of the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting.  In 1998, he was named Minnesota’s Outstate Broadcast Personality of the Year.  He retired in 2002, but couldn’t stay away for long.  Since 2006, the Wayne Eddy Affair can again be heard weekday mornings on KYMN.