HABJ mourns loss of KTSU icon George Thomas
HOUSTON -- The Houston Association of Black Journalists mourns the loss of George Wilson Thomas, former general manager of KTSU 90.9 FM. The Galveston native died Saturday at the age of 80, surrounded by family and friends.
"He was a true legend in this community and touched a lot of lives," said Houston Association of Black Journalists President Nakia Cooper. "Because of the opportunities he provided, I had the opportunty to serve as executive producer of the KTSU 90.9 FM student newscast when I was in college. That achievement still remains on my resume today. He gave so many Texas Southern University students a chance to be great."
A full bio and tribute to his life, published on ktsuradio.com, outlines his extraordinary career.
It reads, in addition to being an avid jazz enthusiast, a trumpet player, tennis instructor/player and friend to all, George was the kind of man who led by example. No task was too difficult because of his visionary spirit. Always the optimist, George found ways to make things happen due to the many relationships he developed throughout his life from all walks of life. His ideas bore fruit and his passing leaves a void in the lives of all who either met or knew George Thomas personally or socially. His anecdotes on life, positive mental attitude and quick wit made him a joy to be around and a friend to all, but it was his faith in God that kept him grounded in spite of his gregarious personality. He could be philosophical and sentimental about life as he knew it to be or provide wisdom to others where needed. His favorite greeting once he got to know someone was: “My brother or My sister,” but once you became a member of that club, you became a friend of his for a lifetime.
Variety was always the spice of life because George always looked to the rainbow to find his pot of gold to achieve his objectives. Because of his enthusiasm for tennis, George and other local area tennis players spearheaded the KTSU Tennis Tournament which ran for 17 years under his watch. Tennis players from all over the United States came to Macgregor Park to play in the event. He was so enthusiastic about tennis, he recorded a how-to CD to teach others fundamental aspects of the game in 2018. As a musician, he played in and around local area clubs for over 40 years with his group ‘George Thomas & Friends.’ He was also instrumental in helping create the African-American Public Radio Consortium, a group made-up of black general managers in public radio, whose goal was to create more programming from a black point-of-view. Although his list of accomplishments are many, Thomas’ most notable achievement was bringing KTSU into the 21st century.
In 1995, George Thomas became the General Manager of KTSU at a time when the station had limited resources and external funding was sporadic at best. Before that, he had helped to raise revenue as an account executive for the station, but took the helm under undue circumstances when the need arose. At the time, there was no office equipment and the building KTSU was housed in leaked when it rained. One of the first duties as GM was to connect KTSU with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a government entity responsible for providing funding for all public radio stations. The move gave the station a broader platform to operate from nationally and gave rise to annual funding through grants for increased programming opportunities. Once that initiative was in place, George’s ever-evolving vision began to unfold towards even higher goals and objectives. With increased funding from CPB and implementation of two-annual fund-raising events that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for KTSU, the station was known to have the largest African-American audience of any public radio station in the United States; however, George’s vision was even greater than that, which led back to the African-American Public Radio Consortium.
CLICK HERE TO READ COMPLETE TRIBUTE.
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