Joseph Priestley "J.P." McCarthy II (March 22, 1933 – August 16, 1995) was a radio personality best known for his over 30 years of work as the morning man and interviewer on station WJR in Detroit, Michigan. Early life J.P. McCarthy was born in New York City to John Priestley McCarthy. and Martha Mary Barber McCarthy. The family moved to Detroit when McCarthy was in elementary school. He graduated from De La Salle Collegiate High School in Detroit. It was there he started to perfect the art of conversation by participating in debates. McCarthy briefly attended the University of Detroit, participating in a co-op program with early aspirations to be a draftsman. McCarthy was drafted into the United States Army and was stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska. There he got his first taste of broadcasting for Armed Forces Radio. He served in the Army from 1953 to 1956, and was a corporal when he became his interest in radio. During his early years in radio, he gained experience at KFAR in Fairbanks (as a part-time job while still in the Army). It was also there that he met and married his first wife, Sali Thompson. They would have five children together: John, Susan, Diane, and twins Kathleen and Kevin. Early radio career When his service was up, McCarthy returned to Michigan, settling in Flint. He got a job at Flint radio station WTAC. While at WTAC he frequently auditioned for WJR, a leading radio station in Detroit, with a 50,000-watt clear-channel signal that could be heard in much of the Eastern United States and Canada. After frequent auditions, McCarthy was hired by WJR as a staff announcer in 1956. The position of staff announcer was merely straight forward announcing, and McCarthy aspired to do more in radio. When Marty McNealy, the host of WJR's Morning Music Hall, left for WKMH in 1958, McCarthy was chosen to replace him. The station promoted him heavily, and he was soon the #1 rated radio show in Detroit. Sojourn in San Francisco WJR did not pay particularly well, and J.P. was offered the opportunity to do commercials for Stroh's, the top brewery in Detroit. Station management would not allow it, and after some discussion McCarthy left Detroit for KGO in San Francisco, where he took the morning show from #6 to #3. In 1964, Goodwill Stations sold WJR to Capital Cities Broadcasting and the president,