Trailblazing Chicago broadcaster Floyd Brown dies at 92

Legendary Chicago broadcaster Floyd Brown, a trailblazer whose 54-year career encompassed radio and television, died Friday. He was 92.

Smart and personable with "the gift of gab," Brown spent from 1971 to 1999 at WGN-TV and WGN radio. On TV, he served as newscaster, sports anchor and host of a show called "Nightbeat." On the radio, he hosted the long-running, jazz-centered "Floyd Brown Show," during which he interviewed such legends as Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton among others.

A man of faith and conscience, Brown was a devoted husband to Betty, his wife of 67 years, and their children: F. Keith Brown and Diane.

"He leaves big shoes to fill," said Keith Brown, a retired Kane County judge, who says his father was determined that his children "had every opportunity to be the best they could possibly be."

"He said, 'Browns never quit,'" said Keith Brown.

Floyd Brown never did. He didn't quit when confronted with quadruple bypass surgery, cancer and a stroke. And he didn't quit when racism that threatened to derail his career almost before it began.

Born to a teenage mother on Nov. 5, 1930, in Dallas, Texas, Brown grew up poor, shining shoes because he was too small to pick cotton, said Keith Brown. He and his mother moved to Washington, D.C. where he graduated high school at 16. Brown moved to Chicago where he studied accounting at Northwestern University while supporting himself working as a porter at Chicago's Drake Hotel. According to Keith Brown, his father got his start in radio in the service while stationed in Alaska.

He was hired as an engineer for the radio station WRMN in Elgin in 1951 but wasn't given an on-air slot because management "was afraid people wouldn't listen because he was Black," Keith Brown said.

His father caught a break, filling in on days when the morning man was late for his 6 a.m. shift.

"People liked him and he got his own show," Keith Brown said.

He left the Elgin station to start WYNR, a rock station in Chicago. In 1965 went to WMAQ-AM where he was the first African American hired by a major network. That wasn't the only barrier Brown broke down.

An avid golfer, he applied for membership in the Elgin Country Club during the late 1970s but was initially blackballed, Keith Brown said. Brown eventually joined, becoming the first African American in the state to be a member of a private country club not associated with a subdivision, according to his son.

As a youngster, Keith Brown sometimes accompanied his father while he hosted his overnight show on WMAQ. For a while, Keith considered following in his dad's footsteps, but the elder Brown discouraged him.

"Get into something that if all else fails you can put a shingle out and work for yourself," Brown advised his son. "You can't do that unless you own the radio station."

Moving to WGN in 1971, Brown hosted his own show for nearly 30 years.

"My dad closed his programs with (the spiritual) 'Kumbaya' and inspirational readings," recalled Keith Brown. "It was a great way to go to sleep."

From 1985 until his retirement in 1996, Brown hosted WTTW's "30 Good Minutes."

Like his wife Betty, herself a patron of the arts, Floyd has been a longtime civic leader whose commitment to inclusion and equity dates back more than 50 years. A founding member of the Elgin Human Relations Commission, Brown also served as president of the Elgin Housing Commission. He served on the boards of the Salvation Army, Adler Planetarium and the U.S. Golf Association, according to his son.

In recognition for his public service, Floyd received the D. Ray Wilson Volunteer Service Award from Judson University, the Trailblazer Award from the Quad County Urban League in suburban Chicago and the Friend of Education Award from Elgin Community College. He was also inducted into the Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame.

Betty Brown described her husband as a "happy warrior who had to keep busy."

"He would never get tired of doing something for other people," she said.