Dan Sorkin

American radio disc jockey. Born April 6, 1927 in Hinsdale, Illinois, USA. Died June 6, 2016 (89 years of age) in Walnut Creek, California, USA. Sorkin enjoyed an irreverent broadcasting career in Chicago and San Francisco. He made his radio mark in Chicago, where he had a 12-year run and was the top-rated morning DJ in the early ’60s. Despite that, he got fired for being a public defender of comedian Lenny Bruce. He landed in San Francisco at KFRC. Sorkin was instrumental in first introducing Bob Newhart first to the public over the air in Chicago and then to a Warner Brothers Records executive. The move helped the comedian get a record deal that turned into the first #1 comedy album on the pop charts in history. Sorkin was the announcer on the variety TV show The Bob Newhart Show (1961-62). Sorkin founded and led an amputee support group "Stumps R Us" for over twenty years. He had lost a leg in a motorcycle accident in 1968. He joined the Air Force in 1945 and graduated in 1950 from the University of Illinois with two Bachelor of Science degrees in economics and marketing. He began his radio career in Marshaltown, Iowa. Later, station WIND hired Dan, who was fired for laughing and telling jokes during news broadcasts. After a few other firings for similar irreverence, he found his niche. In 1954, station WCFL hired Dan for their "All Night" show. Dan kept the show for five years and then was moved to an earlier higher-traffic slot. Sorkin loved aviation and was awarded the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award for 50 years of safe flying during his life. In 1959, Dan flew around the world in 40 days in a twin-engine plane with another pilot named Frank Hanson. They covered 27 countries.