Frederic Moore Imus (January 11, 1942 – August 6, 2011) was an American

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

talk show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...

host and the younger brother of radio talk show host Don Imus. He hosted ''Trailer Park Bash'', a weekly country music program launched on May 6, 2006, on Saturdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET on Sirius XM Radio's '' Outlaw Country'' channel lasting five years until his death in 2011. His sidekick was former

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Don Collier. Imus broadcast his show from his trailer in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

. He frequently appeared as a regular guest on his brother's '' Imus in the Morning''.

Career

He attended

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

and served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

's 101st Airborne Division. Imus also restored cars, especially 1957 Chevrolets and worked as a brakeman for Southern Pacific. In 1963, before Don went into radio, he and Fred wrote and recorded a song called ''I'm A Hot Rodder (And All That Jazz)'' for the Challenge label under the name Jay Jay Imus and Freddy Ford. While with

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

, he met fellow brakeman Phil Sweet, and in 1976 the two wrote the No. 1 country hit for

Jim Ed Brown James Edward Brown (April 1, 1934 – June 11, 2015) was an American Country music, country singer who achieved fame in the 1950s with his two sisters as a member of the Browns. He later had a successful solo career from 1965 to 1974, followed b ...

and Helen Cornelius, '' I Don't Want to Have to Marry You'', which was also voted "Song of the Year" by ''Music City News'' in 1977. Imus has been an on-air host at country music stations in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, Cheyenne, Wyoming and

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

, among others. Because of his love of classic cars, Fred opened his own auto body shop in

and with the idea from his brother Don Imus, he also sold a few shirts and hats out of his body shop with a simple mention from Don on his radio show.Jim Reed (1999), Everything Imus: all you ever wanted to know about Don Imus, ''Birch Lane Press'', pp. 65-66, (). The store was called the Autobody Express, co-owned by Don and Fred. The Autobody Express was later moved to

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

. Later, they had a store inside the Mohegan Sun Native American Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut. The company failed in 2003 and both stores closed. From 2004-2005, he co-hosted ''Out West with Fred Imus and Nicole Cox'', an afternoon talk show, on KJLL-AM in Tucson.

Death

Fred Imus was found dead at his home in Tucson, Arizona, August 6, 2011 by Don Collier when he arrived to do Imus' weekly radio show. He died in his sleep peacefully, according to Matthew Hiltzik, a spokesman for Don Imus.

Books

* Don Imus and Fred Imus, ''Two Guys Four Corners: Great Photographs, Great Times, and a Million Laughs''. Villard, 1997. (). * Fred Imus and Mike Lupica, ''The Fred Book''. Doubleday, 1998. ().

References and notes

External links

Fred Imus bio at Renegade Nation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imus, Fred 1942 births 2011 deaths Radio personalities from Los Angeles Military personnel from California Kent State University alumni