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- Jody Dean (born 1959) is an American journalist and author and a member to the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Dean attended Abilene Christian University and chose broadcast radio as a major after listening to Ron Chapman on KVIL-FM. He soon afterwards found a job at the campus radio station, and later at another station across town. After working at three other stations, he joined with KLIF-FM in Dallas. He later became a full-time deejay at KVIL, and eventually became the producer for Chapman's morning show. Beginning in 1991, Dean was the executive producer for the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network, and in 1994, moved to KRLD, where he served for eight as the morning news anchor. Some of his most memorable broadcasts have concerned the Oklahoma City bombing, and a destructive tornado that hit Wichita Falls. He then began his tenure at KTVT in Fort Worth. He has received several awards, including an Emmy, and was named "Best Talk Show Host" by the Dallas Business Journal. Dean is currently the host of the morning show at KLUV-FM in Dallas/Fort Worth. The show is co-hosted by Kathy Jones, traffic reporter Jonathan Hayes, Rebecca Black, and producer Bernie Mack. Well-known as a born-again Christian, Dean recently wrote a book, Finding God in the Evening News, which largely concerns the application of Christian viewpoints to the more unfortunate events that appear in the news. For instance, he points out that the death of Amber Hagerman led to the creation of the Amber Alert. For most of his career, Jody didn't think he was where he should be. However, after his life changing encounter with God in 2002, Jody says he didn't really change on the surface, but he changed inside. He is more authentic; his faith comes through without him having to say anything. Jody doesn't inject the Word into his reporting, but his motivation is different. His message has become "see whose I am" and not "see what I know. " Jody believes being a Christian is something you are, an identity, not something you do. He has been married and divorced three times, and has two sons, Nolan and Forrest from his second marriage, and one daughter, Madeline from his fourth marriage. He was introduced to his fourth wife, the former Emily Sturges, by her parents, who attended the same church that he did. The couple married in 2004. An avid fan of baseball, he is also known as a gourmet cook. Although he was adopted, Dean later became acquainted with his birth family; one of his cousins is Patrick Swayze.
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