In Thursday’s (4/1) Los Angeles Times, Dennis McLellan writes, “Tom Dixon, who was a familiar voice to classical-music lovers for more than 50 years as a Los Angeles radio host, has died. He was 94. Dixon died March 13 of age-related causes at a rehabilitation facility in Burbank, said his wife, Catherine. When it comes to classical music radio in Los Angeles, ‘you think of Tom Dixon,’ said Don Barrett, publisher of LARadio.com. … Dixon already was a seven-year broadcast veteran in 1946 when he became a host on the classical station KFAC. It remained his home for the next 40 years. Fired from KFAC by its new owners along with other hosts in early 1987, Dixon presided over a nighttime classical music program at KUSC from 1987 to 1988 before moving to KKGO-FM (105.1), another classical station. When he retired in 1998 at 82, Dixon was known as the Southland’s longest-running radio host. … In 1996, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s executive vice president and managing director, Ernest Fleischmann, called Dixon ‘classical music’s favorite uncle. He’s made a lot of people sort of look at classical music as something that doesn’t threaten. There’s something so wonderfully unpretentious’ about him.”
Posted April 1, 2010
