Shelley Stewart
Shelley Stewart (born September 1933) is a former radio personality and station owner and the current majority owner and CEO of O2 Ideas.
Stewart grew up in an abusive household in Rosedale and witnessed the death of his mother at the hands of his father at the age of 5. He was mentored by teachers and became successful in school. He later became famous as Shelley the Playboy with partner Erskine Fausch on WENN-AM and later as the owner of WATV-AM.
In 1960 Stewart deejayed a weekly record hop at Don's Teen Town in Bessemer. On July 14 of that year a group of about 80 Klansmen surrounded the building and sent word to manager Ray Mahoney that they wanted Stewart. Mahoney instead announced the siege to the crowd of 800 or so white teenagers, who flooded out to chase the klansmen off, allowing Stewart to escape.
During the Civil rights movement Stewart used his radio program to pass along information about mass meetings and planned marches, especially after students became involved during the Children's Crusade of 1963.
Stewart was invited to join Cy Steiner's advertising firm as a silent partner in the early 1970s.
Stewart founded the Mattie C. Stewart Foundation to honor his mother's memory by helping young people prepare for adulthood. In 2002 his memoir, co-written with Nathan Hale Turner, was published as The Road South.
Publications
- Stewart, Shelley and Nathan Hale Turner (2002) The Road South: A Memoir. New York, New York: Warner Books. ISBN 0446530271
References
- Williams, Roy L. (July 12, 2009) "On the Record - Shelley Stewart, president of O2 Ideas in Birmingham encourages young people to get an education." The Birmingham News