R.I.P.: Bridgeport Radio..Gary Peters, Longtime PD/DJ, Dies

For more than 40 years, disc jockey Gary Peters enlivened drive time for thousands of Connecticut listeners -- once even taking his radio show airborne aboard his colleague Morgan Kaolian's airplane.

"He always wanted to try new things," said Kaolian, who worked with Peters at radio station WICC 600 AM in Bridgeport. "His innovative techniques made him a terrific program director."

According to ctpost.com, Peters, whose real name was Gary Almeida, died Thursday in Bridgeport Hospital following a lengthy battle with emphysema and while awaiting a lung transplant. 

He was 64 and lived with his wife, Susan in Stratford.

Peters worked at a number of area radio stations, including WEZN in Bridgeport, WDRC in Hartford, WATR in Waterbury, Kool 96.7 in Stamford and CD 101.9 in New York. Back in the early ‘90s, he was also GM of WVKZ AM & FM in the Albany, NY market.  In 1988-1990 he was OM for then-Tribune owned CD101.9 FM in New York. While there, Peters created new radio format that made CD 101.9 America’s #1 Contemporary Jazz station.

Most recently he owned Gary Peters Music and Media.

"Big" Al Warren remembers the November 1976 day Peters joined WICC as the program director.

"He brought in boxes of color-coded music based on style," said Warren, a Milford resident. "He had a great ear for music, picking hits and balancing the play list."

But Warren also remembers never seeing Peters without a cup of coffee and a cigarette, working from sun-rise to nighttime.

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