DYK: The Creator Of Radio's Cash Call Also Sold Real Estate To Diane Sawyer, Henry Kissinger And Joan Rivers

Tom Zarecki called my attention to this obit for David Klemm in the Danbury (CT) News-Times and then added some personal insight about his early career in radio:

I worked for Dave for 6 years in the early 80's. He taught me the delicate art of consulting radio PD's and jocks. What I learned from Dave over those years I was then able to parlay into my own radio successful radio consulting business from 1986-1994.

Klemm worked for Blair Radio, a major national radio rep firm based in New York City, for many years, from the sixties into the early 80's when he began Klemm Media, his own radio consulting firm. During that era, Klemm personally coached literally hundreds of radio programmers, station managers and air talent, including many legendary jocks in all of America's top 20 markets as well as many other stations in groups in all market size, before making his final radio segue into a real estate career with his wife, Carolyn, in 1986.

Besides writing hundreds of slogans, station jingle lyrics and designing radio ad campaigns for top-rated stations nationwide, Klemm was generally credited with inventing the original and highly successful "Cash Call" radio call-in contest of the late 50's and early 60's, later duplicated by hundreds of other stations.