DARRELL DUVALL

A longtime personality of WDNS D93 and WKCT radio station died Wednesday, and his friends say radio in southcentral Kentucky won’t be the same.

Darrell Duvall, who hosted “Mornings With Darrell” from 9 a.m. to noon and was on WKCT from 6 a.m to 9 a.m., died Tuesday after a battle with cancer that lasted less than a year. Duvall was a lifelong resident of Bee Spring and rarely strayed far from the area. He turned 60 in December.

Duvall graduated from Edmonson County High School and began his radio career in the 1970s in Leitchfield at WMTL, where he met John Asher, now the vice president of communications at Churchill Downs, and George Lindsey, now the operations manager at Alpha Media Louisville.

“I can’t come up with a better description of Darrell than one-of-a-kind,” Asher said.

Asher’s first girlfriend was Duvall’s cousin, which is how the two radio men got to know each other.

“The girlfriend was gone after a couple years, but Darrell stayed for life,” Asher said.

Lindsey met Duvall when Lindsey started at WMTL at 15 years old. Because Lindsey wasn’t old enough to stay in the station alone, Duvall sat with him at night so he could be on the air and learn. However, the pair didn’t take to each other well at first.

“He loved to put on the persona that he’s a curmudgeon,” Lindsey said. “He was a curmudgeon at 20. … Darrell was the most unexpected friend that a person could have. He was kind of gruff and you’d just think, ‘Who was that guy?’ That guy revealed that he had one of the biggest hearts I’ve ever known.”

Despite Duvall’s often tough exterior, Lindsey said Duvall was a true friend for more than 40 years.

“If Darrell Duvall was your friend, the world better watch out, because he would go to the ends of the earth for someone he loved,” Lindsey said.

Lindsey said anyone who met Duvall knows that he’s not someone anyone could forget.

“He had a personality that was big enough to fill a room and big enough to fill a radio station,” Lindsey said.

Duvall was diagnosed with lung cancer in June. By September, his lungs looked normal. In December, back pain sent him to the doctor. About a week ago, doctors told Duvall cancer was in his liver.

Asher, Lindsey and others made the trip to Bowling Green last weekend to see their friend one more time. Lindsey saw Duvall on Saturday. Asher saw Duvall on Sunday and planned to visit him again today before the Western Kentucky University basketball game. Asher said Duvall was in pain, but he was glad he got to sit and talk with him. Lindsey said Duvall’s death feels like a kick in the teeth.

“It’s almost not real,” Lindsey said.

Asher commented that Duvall was known for speaking his mind on the radio and wasn’t ashamed to voice his opinions.

“He had the courage of his convictions. (I) couldn’t have a better friend,” Asher said.

Duvall’s opinionated nature made him a unique asset to WDNS, Asher said.

WDNS “stayed with him and stuck with him and let him be Darrell,” Asher said. “He wasn’t always the warmest and fuzziest guy on the radio … and I know it sounds cliche, but he really was a pussycat.”

Bryan Locke, program director at WDNS, said he was proud to have Duvall at the station because he was knowledgeable and kept up with current events.

“Darrell was one of those people who you knew exactly what side of the fence he was coming from,” Locke said. “There’s right and wrong. There’s no gray area in life. In that aspect, I’ve never met anyone like Darrell.”

As a man who played rock ‘n’ roll hits for a living, Duvall had his favorite artists.

“Darrell’s quote was, ‘There’s the Beatles and then there’s everybody else,’ “ Locke said, laughing. The day after Duvall’s death, Locke hosted Duvall’s usual time slot and dedicated the time to Duvall, playing another of Duvall’s favorites – Bonnie Raitt – to close the show.

Duvall started working at WDNS in 1987. Locke said he has spent countless hours with Duvall over the years and valued him as a fellow radio personality.

“We were definitely like family,” Locke said.

Duvall’s youngest sister, Tomie Delilah Larimore of Naples, Fla., said her brother was an opinionated jokester on the radio, but he was a caring family man at home.

“He cared deeply for me and my sister (Deneece), whatever we needed, even if we needed a listening ear,” Larimore said. “He loved people. … He’s always been there when he’s needed.”

Duvall lived at home his entire life and is survived by his father, Curtis, with whom he lived in Bee Spring. Whether his job was in Leitchfield, Glasgow or Bowling Green, Duvall always commuted to the job he loved behind the microphone, Larimore said.

Larimore said Duvall was almost always watching some installment of the “Star Trek” franchise on TV when she went to visit him. An affinity for TV trivia started when Duvall was still a little boy. Larimore said their mother used to talk about Duvall singing the Mickey Mouse song when he was 5 years old. In addition to being a Trekkie, Duvall also enjoyed comic books.

Although there were many things that made her brother special, Larimore said she will always remember his humor.

“I would like people to mostly remember … his sarcasm,” Larimore said. “In any situation, he always had a line. If you were down, he would say something to cheer you up.”

Larimore said the people who called into the radio station and sent messages and comments on Facebook about Duvall have shown that Duvall meant a lot to them, which means a lot to his family. Duvall’s friends all said they will miss him and that southcentral Kentucky radio will miss a great voice after more than 40 years.

“I just hope everybody who thinks of him will smile a little bit,” Asher said.

— Patton Funeral Home in Brownsville is in charge of arrangements.

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