Imus detroit radio

Love him or loathe him, one thing's for sure — the I-Man had a very interesting life. John Donald Imus Jr. According to Vanity Fair contributor Buzz Bissinger who spent a memorable week with Imus back in he was born into "relative affluence," but his rancher turned real estate investor father "squandered most of his money. He started out on local radio in and was more-or-less on the air for five decades, walking a tightrope with his content the entire time.

His checkered past is being explored in greater detail now that he's gone, and it turns out his personal life was often just as shocking as his radio show. This is the untold truth of Don Imus. By his own admission, Don Imus was not a pleasant child. The DJ opened up about his school days when he was visited by Dinitia Smith for a New York magazine profile back in , and he didn't sugar-coat it. He told Smith that he was "bounced from one hideous private school to another" during his childhood, but he wasn't looking for any pity.

In , a year-old Imus dropped out of school and joined the Marines, but the military life didn't repress the joker in him. He transferred to the drum and bugle corps because it was "far easier lifting" according to Vanity Fair 's Buzz Bissinger, who got to hear a few stories about Imus' time in the military during his week with the shock jock. According to Bissinger, Imus and a friend once "stole the stars off a general's jeep and put them on their own vehicle but then got mad at the sentry at the gate for not properly saluting them.

Imus didn't go straight into radio after leaving the military. The I-Man had a number of jobs before he made it big on the airwaves, though he apparently didn't last very long in any of them.

He worked as a uranium miner at the Grand Canyon for a spell, but that ended when he broke one or both of his legs, depending on the account in an on-site accident. It was dangerous work, but Imus "made a lot of money" while it lasted, he told the Los Angeles Times.

He was fired after he decided to put on a little striptease with the mannequins, right in the middle of morning rush hour. These were the kind of stunts that would get him noticed after he moved into radio, but he was never bullet proof, especially in the early days.

Imus got sacked from a Stockton, Calif. First, he uttered the word "Hell" on the air. Then, in what proved to be the last straw for the provocative DJ, he staged an Eldridge Cleaver lookalike contest, which The Washington Post described as his "commentary on the FBI's inability to find the fugitive Black Panther.

After his mouth cost him his job in Stockton, Calif. It was here that he pulled a stunt that led to him being crowned DJ of the year in the medium size markets category by Billboard. Per Vanity Fair , the boundary-pushing shock jock decided to pose as the sergeant of an invented body called the International Guard for the gag, which involved calling up a McDonald's and ordering 1, hamburgers for his non-existent troops.

But I don't want any onion on those. And on — well, make that 20 — I want you to hold the mayo and the lettuce but lay on the mustard and make those medium rare. The bigger effect was on Imus' career.

It wasn't long before he landed a more lucrative job in Cleveland, Ohio, where he was able to reach a much larger audience. He once again won the Billboard award for DJ of the year this time in the major markets category during his time in Cleveland, his last stop before he landed in New York.

There were absences from time to time for substance abuse problems. He left the air March 29 announcing on Twitter: "Turn out the lights He changed radio, and changed it for the better. It truly was an honor to have the opportunity to work with him and learn so much from him.

He was one of the best natural broadcasters of all time, and one of the smartest and funniest people I ever met. There are no details yet on plans for a service. However, the family has requested that for memorial donations be made to the Imus Ranch Foundation , which supports charities for children with cancer and other major illnesses. The Imus Ranch in New Mexico became such an integral part of Imus' later life that he moved the production of his radio and TV shows there.

The summer spot for children with cancer, which opened in to offer young people the "cowboy" experience," closed in after Imus broke his ribs in a fall and was unable to breathe at high altitude, according to The Non-Profit Times , which reported on the ranch's sale. But what I hope he is really remembered for is all the good he did during his life," said Tom Bowman who is now vice president of programming at the Fox Business Network.

He ran a New Mexico ranch for dying children, and often used his radio show to solicit guests for donations. Yet even in death, he was a polarizing figure. Fox News Channel's Laura Ingraham said he was responsible for her radio career. Imus, born on a Riverside, California cattle ranch, was the oldest of two boys — his brother Fred later became an "Imus In the Morning" show regular.

The family moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, where Imus joined the Marines before taking jobs as a freight train brakeman and uranium miner. Only at age 28 did he appear on the airwaves. His caustic persona, though it would later serve him well, was initially a problem: Imus was canned by a small station in Stockton, California, for uttering the word "hell. Imus, moving to larger California stations, earned Billboard's "Disc Jockey of the Year" award for medium-sized markets after a stunt where he ordered 1, hamburgers to go from a local McDonald's.

He brought along a destructive taste for vodka. Billy Sol Hargis. His demons also made it an open question many mornings whether he'd show up for his 6 a.

Imus was fired by WNBC but returned in triumph two years later adding a new vice: cocaine. While his career turned around, his first marriage, which produced daughters Nadine, Ashley, Elizabeth and Toni, fell apart. Imus struggled with addiction until a stint at a Florida alcohol rehabilitation center, coming out just as WNBC became the fledgling all-sports station WFAN, which retained Imus' non-sports show as its morning anchor. His career again soared.