FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS
Former deejay has a different outlook on mornings
BY SUZANNE LOUDAMY Staff writer

John Moore and grandson Ethan

Time was that John Moore's morning was filled with mischief and music. He was the voice behind those hilarious "wake up calls" on KNUE radio. It was his distinctive voice that made waking up more of an "event" rather than just an everyday chore.

Moore started his radio career in Ashdown, Ark. In 1987 his golden voice made its debut on the Tyler airwaves announcing sports for KTBB and KNUE. The hours got early after that.

Moore moved to mornings on KNUE later in 1987 and daybreak would never be the same for listeners. His humor made getting ready for work or school a lot more fun.

Moore's journalism background gave him the opportunity to do marketing for Stewart Regional Blood Center and on to the Trinity Mother Frances System where he currently serves as their public information officer.

The voice remains the same; the man is still just as full of fun as always, even though his work place is a bit more serious these days. He loves his life and those who really "make his day."

Moore says his business really hasn't changed that much. He still gets to see his old friends from the radio days in his work for Trinity Mother Frances.

"I made a number of friends in a short period of time after coming to the Tyler area," Moore said. He is not just referring to the people he worked with at the stations, but also the people who call in to the station. "You got to know their voices. You knew their family and what was going on with them," Moore fondly remembered. "It was an honor to be included in their lives."

The technology changes in radio are a mixed blessing in Moore's opinion. "Radio gave young people a sense of connection," Moore said. "Our distraction was pretty much just radio." Now kids have so many more distractions. The enhancement of the media has its pros and cons.

Moore says he couldn't be happier with the home he and wife Terry have made for themselves in Whitehouse. "Our place was what I'd always dreamed of." Moore smiles when he talks about his catfish pond surrounded by acreage on a dead-end road with a great house and a back porch where he watches a doe and her fawn graze.

"We chose Whitehouse. We could have picked several places in the area, but Whitehouse was the kind of place we wanted to live," Moore said. "It's like it says out on your sign, 'your hometown newspaper.' Whitehouse is just a great place to be your hometown."

"My wife Terry found this place for us and we couldn't be happier here," Moore said. "A man could not have a more supportive wife than I have and she's very easy on the eyes as well!"

Moore says he is really looking forward to spending more time on that porch; watching deer, playing with grandkids and enjoying mornings in a different way.