Radio is a small community, and while everyone doesn’t know everyone, chances are there’s only one, or maybe two, degrees of separation between people in the business.  

News coming from Jackson is that longtime radio personality, programmer, and more recently, also station owner Jamie McKibbin has died in a boating accident, while on a hunting trip. Jamie McKibbin was co-owner with his wife of McKibbin Media Group. During his on-air days, he was known as "The Big Dog" on K-105.3-FM in Jackson.

According to WILX-TV in Lansing, McKibbin and a long time friend, James “Bud” Miller were in Ohio on a long-planned hunting trip, when the boat they were on Sunday night, overturned and both presumably drowned.  

Craig Russell, a former WKFR and WBXX personality knew and worked with McKibbin, and posted his thoughts on Facebook.

"I am in complete shock. Not only was Jamie McKibbin a great boss and radio guy, but he was a mentor and a friend. Such a loss for the Jackson community. Love and prayers for Katina and Walker and everyone at McKibbin Media. RIP Jamie...gone way too soon." - Craig Russell

McKibbin spent twenty-three years at the Jackson stations, starting at the age of 18, first as an on-air personality, and finally buying the stations from owners Bruce and Sue Goldsen in 2019.

“This is such a loss for both Jackson and Hillsdale and it’s going to be a tough one to recover, but you know people will get through it and they will,” former Jackson Radio Works President Bruce Goldsen told the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.

Added Sue Goldsen, "His lifelong dream was to be an owner in the media business,” Sue Goldsen said. “We were ready to retire and we found someone within our family who was willing to carry on the commitment to [the] community.”

McKibbin is survived by his wife, Katina, and 14-year-old son, Walker.

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