James Smith, 60, suddenly on Sept. 24, of a heart attack. Smith began his career in broadcasting as a board op at 630 CJET and 101.1 CHEQ-FM in his hometown of Smiths Falls, under the ownership of CHEZ-FM Inc. He moved into full-time advertising sales in the early ‘90s and continued in that role following Rogers acquisition of the stations in 1999. He moved to Kingston in 2001 to start a four-year stint in sales with CHUM stations, CFLY 98.3 and 1380 CKLC. After leaving radio briefly to work at RBC in Ottawa, he returned to broadcasting in 2007 as the first employee of Perth FM Radio Inc.’s Lake 88.1 CHLK in Perth. Smith worked as General Sales Manager and Promotions Director at Lake 88 for more than 16 years, establishing the station in the Ottawa Valley and contributing to the “Mountain of Food” drives and healthcare radiothons. He continued as GSM after the station was sold and re-branded by My Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) in 2023. He’d also recently taken over GSM duties at MBC’s newest property, in a full circle moment, returning to CJET-FM (92.3 Wow FM) Smiths Falls.
