Tucson radio personality Bobby Rich's biography featured at book fest

He was a fixture on Top 40 and rock radio in Tucson for nearly half of his 60-year broadcasting career, including a 24-year run at 94.9 MIXfm.

His on-air stunts became legendary and his celebrity antics were the stuff of radio lore to his millions of listeners over the years.

Rich's career took him from small town Ephrata, Washington, teen with a radio dream to stations in Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Seattle and San Diego before he arrived in Tucson in 1992. In each market, Rich made a name for himself, whether it was behind the mic or behind the scenes as a programming director.

San Diego broadcast journalist Pat Gaffey recounts Rich's ups and downs in "Bobby Rich: My Life in Your Radio," released late last year. Rich and Gaffey will be at the Tucson Festival of Books this weekend signing copies of the book. 

Gaffey, who worked with Rich at a couple of stations along the way, proposed the book 20 years ago, but the project was delayed when either of them would get a new job.

In addition to extensive interviews with Rich, Gaffey interviewed more than 50 DJs and radio executives. The book shares the high points of Rich's career, including his seven Billboard magazine Program Director of the Year and Air Personality of the Year awards; and the lows: Rich was hired by 24 stations and fired by nine, including MIXfm in early 2017, over a comment that he made.

The nature of that comment, which was not made on the air, has never been disclosed, although the incident is recounted to some degree in the book. 

MIXfm turned out to be Rich's last venture in corporate-owned commercial radio.

In 2019, he partnered with Jim Arnold and Fletcher McCusker to launch KDRI The Drive on 101.7 FM and 830 AM. The independent station targeted listeners ages 45-64, a demographic that Rich and his partners felt was overlooked in the Tucson market.

Rich hosted The Drive morning show for four years until they sold the station to Bustos Media in the spring of  2023. 

"When i left The Drive and I was retiring from radio, I was 77," said Rich, who admitted that he had "lied about my age almost my entire life so I was used to saying something five to 10 to 20 years younger than I was."

In his final broadcast, he came clean about his age, much to the shock of some listeners. 

"I still got calls from people who were like, 'No, really'," said the now 80-year-old. 

Rich and Gaffey will be signing copies of the book from booth 508 at the Tucson Festival of Books at the University of Arizona on Saturday and Sunday.