Jeremy

by Karsten Lunde

Lawrence radio host Jeremy Taylor poses alongside his Range Rover, an SUV made in the United Kingdom. Taylor, an Englishman, moved to Kansas with his wife in 2004. “About The House”  is heard Saturday mornings from 9 to 11 on 1320 KLWN. Photo by Karsten Lunde

For most, a trip to another country is overwhelming to say the least. There’s the currency exchange to worry about, perhaps a language or culture barrier, not to mention transportation issues and culinary discrepancies. And that’s just for a vacation. But what about actually packing up all your things and moving to another country —permanently?For radio host Jeremy Taylor, that matter is very real.

Taylor hosts “About the House” a local mid-morning programs on 1320 KLWN. Born in 1953 and raised 30 minutes north of London in St. Albans, England, he faced the daunting task of packing up his things and starting a new life in Midwestern America, never determined to enter into a broadcasting career.

“[In England] I worked in the rock music industry…helping with lights and sound for bands in the era of Genesis and Queen,” Taylor said. “We lived life like vampires,” he said, often spending the entire night awake in a truck and going to bed when the sun came up. He was never a stranger to being on the road. In fact as a child, Taylor, whose architect father was a hobby race car driver, often dreamed of traveling around Europe with him. Taylor never sits still for very long.

Having sold homes since the 1970s, he really began his time on US soil as a real estate man. Although  a radio host these days, Taylor has a successful  real estate business with his son James and can be found on the Web at www.TaylorsRealty.com

Upon his arrival in Lawrence, many people urged him to embark on that real estate career, but such was not what he had in mind.

“I [didn’t] want to do real estate,” Taylor said. He was persuaded by his wife and a long time local Realtor Charles Gruber, he  received his license anyway.

“Having got my real estate license, I’d better do some real estate….but I realized that apart from my family I didn’t really know very many people…so I thought that what I need to do is have the equivalent clout as if I’d been to Lawrence High and then gone to KU and played football.”

To achieve that Taylor went to the local TV station to inquire about running commercials, but for one reason or another it didn’t work out. He then visited radio salespeople at KLWN who introduced him to Ron Covert, general manager of Great Plains Media, the company that owns KLWN, Lazer 105.9 and 92.9 The Bull .“I got talking to Ron over a few lunches and beers and things like that,” Taylor said. He and Covert decided that instead of traditional radio commercials Taylor would do a short program called “About the House,” which originally aired for 30 minutes on Saturday mornings. Since its inception in Sept., 2007 the show has seen a dramatic rise in popularity.

“There’s been a lot of positive feedback from listener phone calls and e-mails,” said KLWN Program Director John Flood.

Kind remarks piled in at such a high rate that Covert made the decision to upgrade the show to six mornings per week, Flood said. “It replaced ‘The Dennis Miller Show’  After 18months Jeremy went back to Saturdays “Ron Covert had given me a chance in the end we both realized that I would be happier competing with Car Talk”

But what would make someone who lived in Great Britain his entire life decide to pull up his roots and move to Kansas?“Why did I come to Kansas? Woman, I think, is the fairest answer,” Taylor said.

In England, after a failed marriage, Taylor met his current wife who is from Kansas. Together they moved their belongings and his love of Chris-Craft wooden boat building from the land of the Union Jack to that of the Stars and Stripes. Taylor still visits home occasionally, although not as often as he would like.

“It’s incredibly expensive,” Taylor said. “And I don’t like the air.”

In addition to building Chris-Craft boats (his earliest was a 1947 model), Taylor also enjoys collecting old tools and historical books. He said he enjoys things that are fun and can be held in the hand.

Click HERE to listen to previous episodes of “The Jeremy Taylor Show.”

Chef Palooza makes frequent stops to “The Jeremy Taylor Show.” Click HERE to view his recipes!