Former S-F Radio Host Reported Missing In Kentucky

Ray Taliaferro

Legendary Bay Area radio broadcaster Ray Taliaferro has been reported missing in Kentucky.

According to a KFVS report, the Massac County Sheriff’s Department says Taliaferro — now a resident of that Illinois county — was last seen Nov. 10 in nearby Paducah, Kentucky.

According to the missing person flier, “Ray was last seen talking with the manager of the Mellow Mushroom pizza restaurant in Paducah. He may be experiencing disorientation and signs of dementia.”

San Francisco native Taliaferro, 79, became the nation’s first black talk-show host for a major market radio KNEW 910 AM in 1976. According to Bay Area News Group archives, his long résumé also includes heading the city’s chapter of the NAACP and being named the city’s first black member of the arts commission.

For years, starting in 1986, the liberal Taliaferro commanded the Bay Area’s overnight airwaves, hosting the Newstalk KGO 810 AM show from 1 to 5 a.m. In a 2011 interview, colleague Ronn Owens called Taliaferro a “total pro” who “knows how to stir things up in the overnight hours to create a superb listening experience.”

Owens added: “What his listeners don’t know is he is a total gentleman, a patron of the arts, an unbelievably giving person.”