“Wild Bill” Cody Signs Off

He was perhaps the the most popular air talent in Reno during the mid-80s and early 90’s. Wild Bill Cody, voted as the region’s best radio personality for six years dating back to at least the early 1990s, is dead at age 62.

The news is hard to take. I swear we were all in our 20’s and 30’s jus’ yesterday.

Wild Bill’s radio career spanned 35-plus years.

He came to the Biggest Little City back in 1987 or ’88, working at KWNZ-FM 97.3 for nearly seven years. In August 1994, Wild Bill left to take on the big boys in Chicago at WBBM-FM in Chicago, which lasted about a year and later co-hosted a morning show in Cincinnati.

He returned to Reno in 1997 to do the weekday morning drive on KLCA-FM “Alice.” Wild Bill was working as the sales manager and radio personality at KJMP in Fort Collins, Colorado and had recently told me he wanted to “return to the Biggest Little City someday.”

Wild Bill was well known around Northern Nevada for his outrageous stunts, including allowing himself to be buried alive, telling listeners to wish Jones-West Ford’s Richard West’s hair-piece a happy anniversary, standing out on the corner of Moana and Kietzke holding a sign reading, “Will talk for food,” after being fired once again and running for governor. He even rode a riding lawn mower, 1,100-miles in eleven days from Cincinatti to New Orleans to help raise money for flood victims in 2006.

Wild Bill died of a heart attack at his home Christmas Day, joining “Lucy,” his Golden Retriever and best friend in Heaven. He never got over having to say good-bye to that old dog.

I feel the same way about saying good-bye to you too, Bilco.