Jim Quinn, a prominent Pittsburgh DJ and conservative radio host, passed away late last month at the age of 82.
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According to TribLive, the New Jersey native spent decades in Pittsburgh, hosting on various radio stations. His first show was on KQV in the ’60s. He then moved to WTAE in the late ‘70s. He then became half of The Quinn and Banana Show on B-94.
Quinn had met his political mentor, Rush Limbaugh, on KQV in 1967.
He also worked at radio stations in Philadelphia and New York. He voiced a parody record, Undercover Pothole, on WKTQ. He had his own program, The Warroom with Quinn and Rose on XM Satellite and Quinn in the Morning on WAVL in Apollo.
Ed Weigle, coiceover actor for WWE radio spots, took to Facebook to mourn the loss of Quinn. “He was certainly a radio force back home in Pittsburgh when I was a kid,” Weigle wrote. “As a high schooler, I used to enjoy him and Don Jefferson on B-94 as ‘Quin and Banana.’ Years later, I had the pleasure of working with him, as our morning man, on my second run on Magic 97. His promos were always fun to record.”
It was reported that Quinn was off the air for over a month before his passing. He had suffered an aortic aneurysm, leading to open heart surgery.
Don Jefferson Recalls His Time With Jim Quinn
Don Jefferson, who worked with Jim Quinn on the Quinn and Banana radio show from 1983 to 1992, spoke about working with Quinn.
“I’m retired now, but Jim loved radio so much he never retired,” Jefferson told TribLive. “I was 24 when they signed him up to do mornings with me in 1984, and he was 17 years older. I learned some things from him — he’d obviously had a huge career even at that point. But good radio morning shows, in my opinion, work when everyone is bringing something different to the table. In our case, it worked because we made each other laugh.”
Jefferson then stated, “We had a good run at B-94 and then Jim was able to reinvent himself, successfully, in talk radio, which is a tough act.”