December 3, 2012
Jake's bio has recently been declassified! (And updated!)
Amid the intense backbiting, crushed egos, shattered careers and rampant paranoia & suspicion so prevalent in the radio business, Jake Hartford after many long years, clawed his way to the top of the Saturday morning broadcast heap on 89 WLS.
Climbing to the top is nothing new for him. Hartford leads semi-annual mountain climbing excursions to the peaks of Nevada. Ironically, his only injury from his many adventure travel trips, came while cliff diving off of a abandoned Tahitian Island. While swimming thru a kelp bed, a koi snipped off part of his nose.
Hartford's life has been a series of ups and downs. Fresh out of school, he was a finalist for the Vice-President's Medal of Valor from a Central American country. Soon after that he tried his hand at comedy. His idea for roasting the deceased at wakes was ahead of its time, but also a failure. Not to be denied, he began his radio career that soon found him here at WLS.
However, because he was too successful, Hartford experienced a fall from grace at the start of 2008 and was forced to leave WLS. He was immediately picked up by Chicago's progressive station where he found redemption while experiencing relative success.
In the spring of 2010 Jake came back home to WLS for what was called a "triumphant return." Now Jake adds author to his list of accomplishments. He is in the process of writing a book based on his last 20 years. The working title is "Behind Enemy Lines --- Talking with the Enemy?"
He is married to the former Ms. Dill Pickle of 1982 and they have two sons. Jake spends the week tending to his 50-odd pigs at Green Jakers. In the radio business, he is often referred to as the man behind the man who is behind the man. Or as some here call him, the most uninteresting man in the world.
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