(Excerpt from the article mentioned above)
Sanders, who founded Great American and Proud Country Stations after entering the radio
business in 1951, died Saturday while visiting his daughter in Nashville. He was 80. According to
the Wichita Eagle, Sanders lived in Hot Springs, AR, where he co-owned KBHS-AM and had
been in mornings. Sanders, whose real name was John Bozeman, first gained fame as an
air personality at KFH/Wichita in the early 1950s. He purchased his first station,
KSIR (now KSGL)/Wichita, in 1958, and eventually built Proud Country, which would own
12 stations throughout the American heartland. Sanders sold Proud Country in 1978,
relocated to Nashville, and purchased two stations. By 1991, his new company —
Great American — included nine stations in Arkansas, Kansas and Tennessee. But the recession
of the early 1990s led Sanders to file for bankruptcy protection for Great American. Survivors include
his widow, country music singer Sherry Sanders, a son, two daughters, two stepsons, two sisters
and six grandchildren. A private memorial service and burial will be held in Nashville.
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