O’Rourke to be honored for broadcasting in September

Austin’s John O’Rourke will be inducted into the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame Sept. 14 in Minneapolis.

O’Rourke was a longtime broadcasting instructor at Riverland Community College, a news director at KAAL-TV and KAUS Radio, and a former Austin mayor.

He didn’t know he was nominated for the hall of fame, but O’Rourke said he would gladly accept the nomination.

“I feel excited and I can’t believe it, but I’m tickled pink,” he said.

O’Rourke came to Austin in 1961 to work with sports at KAUS and Channel 6. He later moved on as the news director. He never dreamed he would get this honor when he first started but said he is excited.

“I wanted to do sports starting off, and announcing; I liked the announcing bit, and music,” O’Rourke said. “It was something I wanted to do when I finished high school, I went to college one year and then to a broadcast school in Minneapolis, and that got me going and here I am.”

He eventually became a Riverland instructor and said teaching others how to do broadcasting was rewarding, just as working in the industry was.

“I liked the people, I liked the job itself — you got to go to ballgames and got the front seat,” he laughed. “I liked everything about it.”

O’Rourke also emceed other events in the community, such as the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon and the Miss Minnesota Scholarship Pageant — each for about 20 years. He also was Austin’s mayor from 1987 to 1996.

O’Rourke advised prospective broadcasters to be ready to meet many new people and learn much more than simply writing, talking or turning on a disc player. Yet he said all the hard work was worth it.

“All the people you meet, all the things you get to do, it’s just an exciting occupation,” he said.