R.I.P.: Longtime Maine Radio Personality Don Brown

Don Brown

Longtime central Maine radio personality Don Brown died Thursday because of complications from multiple strokes. He was 77.

Augusta-based radio station WMME 92.3 Moose FM in Augusta, ME said in an online post Friday morning that Brown was the creator of the Love Fund and served in local radio for decades, including WABK, WKCG and, most recently, Cruisin’ 93.5 in Waterville. He had been on the air for about 49 years.

In 2006, Brown was inducted into the Maine Broadcasting Hall of Fame, and in 2011 he was honored with the Citizen of the Year award from Le Club Calumet, the Augusta-based Franco-American club.

In a 2012 interview with the Kennebec Journal, Brown talked about leaving WABK’s morning show and said that he and Blueberry Broadcasting LLC “parted company amicably.”

Brown, whose real name was Don Wormwood, was known for his deep gruff voice on the early morning radio.

The Press-Herald reports his first job was on a talk show on WIDE in Biddeford while he was still in high school. The television years were 1957 to 1965, working on “The Dave Astor Show (For Teenagers Only).”

Many people in central Maine grew up listening to the voice of Don Brown in the morning on WABK-FM 104.3.