Lew Dee(1932-2011)
- Actor
Lew Dee - the Lubbock radio and television legend, birth name Lewis Thomas D'Elia, passed away after a battle with cancer. Lew' birth place was in Hell's Kitchen in Brooklyn, N.Y., the son of Italian immigrants who had arrived in America in 1901. At age 17, after the death of his mother, Bernadette, his father, an Air Force recruiter, insisted that Lew and his brother, Walter, enlist in the U.S. Air Force. Lew's father was concerned that the two motherless teenagers might fall victim to street gangs. After basic training in San Antonio, Texas, the brothers were separated, with Lew assigned to Reese Air Force Base, while Walter went to another Texas base. This separation was a bitter disappointment to the two young brothers, who had been told they would be stationed together. After getting out of the Air Force in 1954, Lew went back to New York, only to return and start his broadcasting career with the Cuckoo Network of radio stations owned by R.B. (Mac) McAlister in Post and Littlefield. He sold advertising in Littlefield and went on the air for the first time on KZZN. Eventually, Lew moved to Lubbock, where he worked at KSEL-AM (AM 950) and KSEL Television, also owned by Mac McAlister. During his time at KSEL, Lew was a radio and television personality and was eventually promoted to the position of Vice President and sales manager at KSEL-AM & TV. While he was sales manager at KSEL, he called on one of his most loyal advertisers, Latham's Department Store. Latham's owner had recently named Diana Karvas as marketing director, and Lew was told he needed to talk to her about her account. Diana went on the air as his partner in 1978 on KEND radio and continued, at various stations, until 2008. Lew and Diana were married on Valentine's Day in 1988. In the late 1960s, Lew starred in a KSEL-TV show called Lew Dee's Saturday Night Theatre, hosting bad horror movies. Lew was master of ceremonies while fellow KSEL broadcasters were dressed in monster costumes, creating entertaining skits that were presented during breaks in the movies. The show won a national award for most-viewed program on a UHF station. He and Bill McAlister earned the highest rating in the nation with their acclaimed TTO-This, That, and the Other-morning show on KSEL Radio. The show garnered 62 percent of the Lubbock audience. Bill McAlister was the son of station owner Mac McAlister. In 1971, Lew left KSEL and helped form KEND Radio (KDAV-AM 1590, with Paul R. Beane. Years later, after the sale of KEND, Lew was at KKIK, and then, from 1991 to 2002, he and Diana starred in KKCL (98 Kool) radio's morning show while managing that station. During the 1990s, the Dees also produced two cable shows: TTO (This, That, and the Other) and Country Music Video's Live from The Midnight Rodeo. In 2002, they launched a new radio station, Stars 104.3, for Ramar Communications, as general manager, sales manager and co-hosts of the station's morning show. After going off the air in 2008, they continued in their roles as advertising consultants for Ramar's four radio stations. On the air from 1978 through 2008, the Lew Dee and Diana morning show became Lubbock's longest running morning. Lew Dee's radio broadcasting career was 48 years on the airwaves of Lubbock and the South Plains. During those years he mentored dozens of aspiring broadcasters and advertising sales persons, and they still remember him fondly and acknowledge the impact he had upon their lives. His colleagues, dating back to the early years, consider him one of the most, if not the most, influential radio personality ever in Lubbock. More than that, though, they cite his huge heart, his kindness and love, his unswerving loyalty and devotion to those he called friends. One former colleague said Lew Dee had the greatest heart he had ever seen, and another said he was the best advertising person he had ever known. On June 28, 2011, Lew and Diana received Lubbock Advertising Federation's highest honor at the organization's annual Silver Medal Award dinner. The Silver Medal Award recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to advertising and who has been active in furthering the industry's standards, creative excellence and responsibility in areas of social concern.