William Jonathan Phelps (May 4, 1928 - July 21, 2011), known as Jonathan Phelps, was a radio announcer on

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

's classical music stations WGKA-FM and

WABE-FM WABE (90.1 MHz) – branded ''90.1 FM WABE'' – is a non-commercial educational FM radio station licensed to Atlanta, Georgia, and serving the Atlanta metropolitan area, serving as the National Public Radio (NPR) member station for the market. ...

. Born in Tennessee, he moved to Atlanta in 1937, where he began as an announcer on WGKA-FM in 1956. He stayed with that station until it was sold in 1971 and its programming format changed, whereupon he went to WABE-FM, eventually became program director, and stayed with that station until his retirement in 1991. Known locally for his rich voice, he was also a Shakespearean actor and a part-time ballet dancer, having performed some roles with the

Atlanta Ballet Atlanta Ballet is a ballet company, located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the longest continuously performing ballet company in the United States and the State Ballet of Georgia. History Atlanta Ballet was founded in 1929 by Dorothy Alexander as ...

. On radio, he spoke without a trace of his native Tennessee accent, or indeed, any kind of Southern accent. Phelps died at the age of 83 from

emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract di ...

, on July 21, 2011.

References

External links

Atlanta Journal-Constitution online obituary
2011 deaths American radio personalities 1928 births {{US-radio-bio-stub