Larry Ward, The Voice of the Chattanooga Lookouts and the UTC women's basketball team, will be inducted into the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame this Saturday night in Murfreesboro.
The Eastern Oregon native is one of four Tennessee radio broadcasters in the 2022 career class. Others include Paul Tinkle, Bill Hacy and George Plaster.
While working for the Pacific Coast League, Ward decided to move east. Ward was at the Citadel in South Carolina when the Lookouts hired him.
Ward has been broadcasting the Lookouts home and away games since the 80’s and has logged nearly 5,300. He is also the voice of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's basketball team.
Ward’s broadcasting career began 50 years ago. He’s spent over 30 years in Chattanooga and recently said, “I have no plans to retire, I really enjoy the work.”
"I finally realized that being in Chattanooga is where I'm supposed to be," he said. "I've helped a lot of people, and a lot of people have helped me. To me, that's why I'm still here."
"I said to my wife a couple years ago something about retiring. She said, 'You're not going to retire. You love this too much.' And she was right.”
Other Chattanooga area inductees in past years include Luther Masingill, Tommy Jett, Earl Freudenberg, Bill Poindexter, Keith Landecker, Gene Lovin, Jim Reynolds, and Scott Chase.
Inductees are selected by members of the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame. Information on joining the Hall is on their website,
https://tennesseeradiohalloffame.wildapricot.org
This annual event documents, preserves, and honors the people and stations shaping radio in Tennessee.