John C. Scott, a longtime radio commentator who spent decades on the air sharing his take on Tucson politics, died in his sleep early Friday. He was 80.
Scott began his career at the age of 15, later working as a disc jockey while attending the University of Kansas in the 1960’s.
He moved to Tucson in 1967 and worked as the news anchor for KTKT 990AM. He later became for news anchor for KVOA Channel 4 and KOLD Channel 13 and hosted a talk show host on KGUN Channel 9.
His various shows through television and radio over a 50-year career, focused mostly on politics at the local, state and national levels.
Mark Ulm, one of Scott’s children, remembers back to their time together while he produced the John C. Scott Show for more than 25 years.
“(Very few people) get the privilege of working with their father . . . The show that we did (for C-SPAN) when Gabby Giffords got shot, that was probably our most important,” Ulm, 56, said Saturday. “When the towers fell, stupid (stuff) like OJ . . . I remember him as someone who made a difference in Tucson for a long time. He wasn’t just a southern Arizona commentator, he was a politician, and a broadcaster.”
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In 1972, Scott won a seat in the Arizona State Senate where he served as a Democrat for two years. He was back on TV in 1980 and worked at several radio stations before starting his own talk radio show in 1989.
Ed Ackerley, a current Tucson mayoral candidate, said Scott was a “formidable media voice” and someone who helped Tucson understand who represented them.
“He was a progressive conservative. I know that’s an oxymoron, but I believe had the best interests of the city at heart,” Ackerley said, whose advertising firm issued a news release about Scott’s death. “His overall sense was that we can all come together, work together to make Tucson a better place to live.”
Scott was recognized with the American Advertising Federation Tucson Golden Mike Award in 2014. He retired from his show, the John C. Scott Political Forum on KVOI 1030AM, in July.
“John was a good friend and my talk show mentor. After spending 22 years in town doing television … I transitioned into talk radio in January 2011 and John helped ease that transition for me,” said Bill Buckmaster, a fellow longtime Tucson talk show host. “He is a true broadcasting legend for Tucson … He was honest and he was fair.”
Scott, who quit drinking in 1987, openly shared his own struggles with addiction regularly.
“When I got this radio show in 1989, I said that I’d tell people about what I did in case they knew somebody who might want to change. I said I’d take one hour out of the year and talk about it,” he said in an August 1994 broadcast on the John C. Scott Show.
“If our commentary from my show is geared to anything, it’s geared to the far-left of the ultra right-wing politics of the state,” Scott told the Star in 2010.”On the other hand, we are pretty pro-business locally and have been extremely critical of the City Council.”
In fact, in 1994, Scott had to make an on-air apology the then City Councilman Michael Haggerty as part of an out-of-court settlement. During a broadcast Scott accused Haggerty of trying to damage Tucson’s annual gem shows, prompting Haggerty to sue Scott for slander.
At the time, Scott had been a critic of the council. He helped lead an unsuccessful recall campaign in 1992 against Haggerty and two other Democratic council members.
“I’ve done radio since I was 15 years old. I’m comfortable with it. It’s something I have always done. It’s not hard for me,” Scott said in 2010.
“Radio is something I can keep doing,” Scott continued. “I’ll probably have to because you get no retirement in radio.”
