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HIGH POINT- Max Meeks sits alone in the predawn hours on the eighth floor of the Radio Building in downtown High Point.

But when he fires on his microphone, he becomes a friend to drivers on their way to work, restaurant cooks making breakfast and families readying their kids for school.

For roughly 60 years, Meeks has been the morning voice of WMFR, providing news, weather and a daily prayer in a grandfatherly tone that has become something of rarity on today's dial.

On New Year's Day, though, he will sign off for the last time.

"Radio is confining work because you have to be there every day," he said. "If you get up in the morning and it's snowy and icy, you can't call up and say, 'I'm not going to be there today.' That airtime is your responsibility, and you've got to be there. But I'm going to miss it, giving people information that they need for the day." 

Signing on

The lobby in the Radio Building is cold. The place is deserted when Meeks comes in, and the heat doesn't kick

on until about 7:30 a.m. or so.

The 84-year-old typically begins his day about 3 a.m. He tries to be quiet and doesn't turn on the lights so as not to wake his wife, Nancy.

He showers and shaves, has a breakfast of oatmeal and juice and is in the studio by about 4:30 a.m. With a space heater providing heat, he checks his e-mail and takes down the birthday requests people have left on the studio's voice mail. At 5:30, he signs on.

The show is a mix of community news and announcements, interviews with civic leaders and music. News reports by Smith Patterson are piped in from WMFR's sister station in Winston-Salem. Meeks also has a daily prize drawing for people celebrating birthdays.

Growing up, their four kids always enjoyed listening to their dad on the radio, Nancy Meeks said, but were bothered by one thing.

"They could never understand why they couldn't win the birthday drawing," she said. "He announced their names, but they had to learn to accept that they could not win the drawing."

Most of WMFR's programming these days is syndicated. Other than an occasional business representative, Meeks is pretty much the only person who uses the High Point offices.

The studio, which appears to measure little more than 10 feet wide, is covered from floor to ceiling in tattered gray carpet. Meeks keeps a jar of mints at his side and picture of him holding his great-granddaughter Amber on the wall.

The hall leading up to the studio is hung with the various awards he has won through the years -- the High Point Jail Ministry Service Award, Mental Health Association of High Point Media Award, Exchange Club Book of Golden Deeds, among many others.

"If there's anything going on with our organization, we can come here and talk about it," said William Newman, an ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's Central North Carolina chapter. "He's genuine. That's the best word for him. People come with me sometimes for an interview, and they may not be very comfortable being on the radio. But he will always put you at ease."

Many fans who have never seen what he looks like have recognized him just by hearing his voice.

"A couple of months ago, my wife and I stopped to pick up a few things at Walmart," Meeks said. "And I wrote a check and told the cashier I'd written it for a little extra (to get some cash back). And when she put it in the machinery that goes up and down I reached for my billfold to get my ID. She didn't even turn around. She said, 'I don't need that. I know your voice.' "

As a young college student, however, Meeks had no intention of taking to the airwaves.

A radio star is born

Born in the Rockingham County community of Leaksville (in what is now Eden), Meeks was the son of Tom and Sadie Meeks, a policeman and cotton mill worker, respectively. Growing up, he said, he used to listen to the "Green Hornet" and "Lone Ranger" on the radio but never gave any thought to working in the business.

During World War II, he served in the Navy, taking part in the invasions of Italy and North Africa and later going to the Pacific Theater. When he returned home, he enrolled at what was then High Point College (now High Point University) on the GI Bill, majoring in history and English. He said he wanted to be a teacher.

But during his sophomore year in 1947, he got involved with the Junior League's Community Radio Council, which put on plays. Frank Lambeth, then owner of WMFR, heard one of their programs and asked Meeks if he cared to fill in during the summer while one of the announcers was on vacation.

"I was a newly married man, and I thought it was a good way to earn a little extra money," Meeks said. "So, I went in there, got acquainted with the equipment and routine. And after I'd been there for a week, he (Lambeth) called me into his office and said, 'How would you like a regular job?' I liked what was I doing, so I accepted."

His training could be a bit rough, though.

"The man who was breaking me in, teaching me the routine, his name was Pat Taylor," Meeks said. "He was trying to teach me never to lose my cool when things happened. Sometimes I would be on the air reading a commercial, and he would come in with a cigarette lighter and set my copy on fire. And I'd just have to sit there putting it out while continuing to read it. It really gave you a good indoctrination of how not to lose your thoughts."

In the mid-1950s, he was disgusted by the payola scandals rocking the industry. Though WMFR was never engaged in such misdeeds, he said he felt he needed to take a break from radio anyway and left for a few years to work in the furniture business. He came back in the mid-1960s and has been on the air since.

The station has changed ownership seven times during Meeks' tenure (and is now owned by Curtis Media Group), but he has never been asked to change his low-key conversational style.

"Max has a knack for making people that he interviews feel good about what they do, what they're talking about, and feel so very comfortable," said Tom Hamilton, general manager for several local CMG stations. "He has a way of teaching and inspiring and getting people to share stories. And over the years, he just became one of the finest ambassadors High Point has ever had."

He's also become something of an endangered species in a radio landscape increasingly dominated by shock jocks and political commentators.

"These long-time radio announcers -- they defined regional characteristics which, for better or worse, are becoming more homogenized as syndicated radio and television personalities are replacing the local," said Wilfred Tremblay, director of the Nido R. Qubein School of Communication at High Point University.

"Couple that with the changing media environment where radio and television simply don't dominate like they used to, and it's doubtful that there will be someone with Mr. Meeks' regional popularity and influence in the future."

Mr. High Point

Meeks doesn't quite know what he'll do in retirement. When he's not working, he said he likes to listen to classical music and watch ACC basketball. His wife said he doesn't really have "anything you could call a hobby" outside of radio, but he stays busy with speaking engagements and with activities at the Rotary Club and their church, Wesley Memorial United Methodist in High Point.

For his last show, he said, some old friends will stop by to chat on the air, and he expects station management will have a little surprise in store. He wanted to wait until New Year's Day to retire, so he could have the privilege of announcing High Point's Citizen of the Year, something he said he always looks forward to doing.

The station's management has not yet decided what will replace his show.

Though he won't miss getting up on frosty mornings, he said he'll miss the people he has worked with through the years.

"In broadcasting, you have an opportunity to become involved with people that you might not otherwise have a chance to know," he said. "And the people have really been the thing that I've enjoyed -- the people I hear from, who speak to me while I'm out in the community, who come up and say hello, the people who work in the plants and the mills and are up early."

After signing off at 9 a.m., Meeks walks across the street to the Best Western hotel's coffee shop. He has been coming for a bagel and coffee for 27 years -- since the place was built. All the staff knows him well.

"Mr. Meeks, I didn't know you were here," the waitress, Pam Rios, says. "I didn't see you, how are you?"

Meeks asks about her family and then places his order.

Rios, 47, has been listening to him since she was a little girl, when her grandfather would tune in.

"He's Mr. High Point," she said. "You know about everything going on in High Point, the local people, churches. Everybody knows he cares. He don't just talk."

Rios said she's glad Meeks will hang on until the new year. Her birthday was on Christmas Eve, and she wanted to hear him announce it one last time.

Contact Robert C. Lopez at 691-5091 or robert.lopez@news-record.com

Five questions for Max Meeks

What did your parents think when you told them you were going into radio?

Oh, my, that was funny. My mother spent all of her life hoping that one day I'd get a real job. She just could never understand or ever conceive of radio broadcasting as a real job. And she didn't see how I could support a wife and a family doing that kind of work.

My dad, his dream was that I would become an FBI agent. He loved police work and hoped that one day I would go into it. And his dream would have been that I become an FBI agent, but I never had any interest at all in law enforcement.

What did you do during World War II?

I was in the Navy. I was on an amphibious transport. We made beach landings. If you've ever seen some old movies of that era where some small boats would go up to the shore and the front end of it would come down and the soldiers would come charging off -- I was on that kind of a ship. They would carry about 700 troops, when we were going in to make an invasion. We would land them and then go back and get another load.

What have been some of the more unusual experiences you've had on the job?

The doorway to the control room always stays open, and one day, while I was on the air, all of a sudden this pigeon flew in and threw papers off the console. And we have carpet on the walls to help with the sound, and it would fly up and just get a hold of the carpet.

And fortunately, a man who was doing the news came in and opened up a window and the pigeon flew out. And it was so excited, it was also messing up a little bit as it flew around, and we had to wipe up as soon as we got him out of the room.

How do you take care of your voice?

One of the things I did was quit smoking. I also try to be careful at sporting events not to yell too loud. But really in our business, as long as your voice holds out, you can work as long as you want because nobody sees you. They can't tell whether your hair is black or gray.

Who are some of the more famous people you've interviewed?

Art Linkletter came to town. I got Nido Qubein, who was a good friend of ours, to set up an interview with him. We set up a table right over here in the dining room (at the Best Western), put a couple of microphones on him and put out a carafe of coffee. And he and I sat there and talked for an hour. He was one of the most delightful and pleasant men that I think I have ever met.

One of the things that I've often laughed about is we had a country music show come through once. They had Eddy Arnold, who was quite a star at that time, and two of the Carter sisters. They asked me to emcee the show. Anyway, they had a young rock 'n' roller who was just getting started. At that time I thought he was an embarrassment because he was not country at all. And that was Elvis Presley.

So, in between shows I invited the group to come up to the eighth floor of our station for an interview. And I asked Eddy Arnold and the Carter Sisters. But I didn't even ask Elvis Presley. At that point, people just couldn't understand his music. And people who liked country music just couldn't understand him being a country musician. So, I've often thought about the opportunity I missed to interview Elvis Presley just when he was getting started.