John McCormick – Legacy
John McCormick became known in St. Louis as “The Man Who Walks and Talks at Midnight.”
His overnight program on KMOX was a throwback to radio’s earlier days, when deep-voiced announcers steeped in knowledge and personality held forth on the nation’s powerhouse stations.
McCormick began his work at KMOX in 1958, having already established himself as a radio personality at Chicago’s WGN and WBBM and stations in New Orleans and Los Angeles.
He held forth on the KMOX overnight shift for 31 years, with listeners awaiting his familiar clichés, like his sign-off at the end of each morning’s show: “And now, the night has separated from the day.”
Like many KMOX personalities, McCormick stayed on the air past the usual retirement age of 65, finally hanging it up at 75.