Paul Kallinger
Del Rio, Val Verde County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(December 4, 1922 – May 29, 2001) FASCINATED WITH THE VERBAL ABILITIES OF AUCTIONEERS AND RADIO HOSTS, PAUL KALLINGER ENTERED FREDERICK H. SPHERE RADIO ANNOUNCING SCHOOL IN HOLLYWOOD AFTER SERVING IN WWII WITH THE U.S. COAST GUARD. AFTER A SHORT JOB IN DEL RIO WITH KDLK, KALLINGER AND HIS FAMILY MOVED TO LOUISIANA BEFORE RETURNING TO DEL RIO IN 1948 FOR A DISC JOCKEY POSITION WITH XERF. KALLINGER PLAYED HILLBILLY AND BLUEGRASS MUSIC AND PROMOTED VARIOUS PRODUCTS ON AIR. HE RECEIVED SEVERAL AWARDS INCLUDING INDUCTION INTO THE TEXAS COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME AND THE COUNTRY MUSIC DISC JOCKEY HALL OF FAME. KALLINGER IS REMEMBERED AS A NATIONALLY-FAMOUS DISC JOCKEY AND “YOUR GOOD NEIGHBOR ALONG THE WAY.”
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Drawn to the fast talk of auctioneers and radio hosts, Paul Kallinger studied broadcasting in Hollywood after serving in the Coast Guard during World War II, then landed in 1948 at Del Rio's border station XERF. Spinning hillbilly and bluegrass records and pitching mail-order products across the airwaves, he became one of the most widely heard disc jockeys in the country. Known as "your good neighbor along the way," he was later inducted into both the Texas Country Music and Country Music Disc Jockey halls of fame.
Why it matters
Kallinger's booming border-radio career helped carry country and bluegrass music to a national audience in the postwar decades.
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Related people
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Themes & tags
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