R.I.P. Central CA Radio Legend Ed Dickinson

Ed Dickinson

Central Coast broadcasting legend Ed Dickinson, best known for the big-band-era music he played on a radio program he called "Way Back Now," died Sunday after a lengthy struggle with failing health.

He was 88-years-of-age, according to The Monterey Herald.

Mr. Dickinson's deep, velvety voice was instantly recognizable to listeners of the old, Monterey-based KIDD 630 AM radio station, from which he played 1930s, '40s and '50s music from 1991 through 2011.

He revived the program briefly at KYAA 1200 AM, but announced his retirement in October 2012 after suffering his second stroke.

His broadcast career spanned 64 years. His career took him through an alphabet soup of local radio gigs at KXXL, KRML, KONC, KNRY, KDON and KIDD. Dickinson spun records and announced sports events — including Pacific Coast League baseball featuring the San Francisco Seals and Oakland Oaks, who, in those days, played spring training games at Monterey's Jacks Park.

He worked for $100 a week for Jimmy Lyons, founder of the Monterey Jazz Festival, at the KDON studios at the old San Carlos Hotel, a job that enabled him to kibitz with Andre Previn, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington. He had coffee with Stan Kenton. Dave Brubeck spent five hours at his house. He talked football with Erroll Garner.

Born in 1926, Mr. Dickinson grew up in Michigan listening to "The Jack Benny Show," "I Love a Mystery," and big-band music on the family's Philco radio while his parents thought he was sleeping, he told The Herald in 2008.