Frank Page

Background

Page was born in Malvern in Hot Spring County, Arkansas, a son of Raymond Foster Page and the former Stella Irene Coston.

Education

He attended school in Harlingen, Texas, Malvern, and North Little Rock, Arkansas.

Career

The Hayride was presented weekly from 1948 until 1960 at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. lieutenant was akin to Shreveport"s temporary alternative to the permanent Grand Ole Opry of Nashville, Tennessee. He enrolled in high school in the capital city of Little Rock, where he worked beginning at the age of sixteen for KGHI radio and thereafter at KLRA. On December 7, 1941, Page was broadcasting at the time of the Attack on Pearl Harbor.

In 1943, he enlisted in the United States Army during World World War World War II He was assigned briefly at the end of the war to Armed Forces Radio in Berlin, Germany.

In 1945, while being transported home on a Greek vessel, Page was shipwrecked in the North Atlantic. His next and permanent stint brought him to Shreveport on Thanksgiving Day 1947.

Page joined the staff of KWKH, named for broadcast pioneer West. K. Henderson, and worked at the station for sixty-five years until his retirement in 2005 at the age of eighty. In 1949, he began announcing the Louisiana Hayride.

In addition to Presley, Page had an impact on the careers of National Stuckey and Jim Reeves, both of whom were also radio announcers at KWKH, and Bob Dylan, who listened to KWKH from his home in Hibbing, Minnesota, and gained ideas for his future musical compositions.

In the broadcasting business, Page was known for courtesy, humility, and willingness to mentor others seeking to enter the entertainment field The Pages" landlady was Mistress F. A. Bewley, wife of the owner of a large furniture store in Shreveport.

Page and Davis became lifelong friends.

In 2009, he was inducted into the Wall of Fame in Shreveport. Page worked closely with KWKH personality Louise Alley, who in 1978 established her own advertising agency which she operated until 2012 in her adopted city of Shreveport.

In 2011, Page was named one of "Five Living Legends of Shreveport" by Danny Fox (1954-2014) of KWKH radio. Others named were Bob Griffin of KSLA and KTBS-television, James Burton, Hank Williams, Junior., and Claude King, who like Page died in 2013.

Page died in a Shreveport hospital of a severe respiratory infection.

Page is interred at Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport.

Achievements

• A member of the County Music DJ Hall of Fame, Page was a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters.

Connections

Partner:

Tim Brando

Friend:

Bob Fulton