Charles Rowe’s handle inspired by Greeks, brother

You may know that former KCDA-FM station owner John Rook and retiring KREM-2 anchor Charles Rowe are brothers. But do you know which one of the siblings kept the family surname? That would be Rook, a pioneer radio program director who played a key role in introducing The Beatles and the Rolling Stones to American audiences back when. Rook, a Mica Flats-area resident who gained Coeur d’Alene fame as an outspoken radio station owner, was making a name for himself as an up-and-coming radio personality when older brother Charles was finishing a Navy stint. Originally, Charles considered a career as an electrician, his father’s trade. John, meanwhile, had become “Johnny Rowe,” a disc jockey and program director for KOBH in Hot Springs, S.D. A friend had told swarthy John that he looked Greek, suggesting the name “Rho,” the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. John seized on the name, spelling it “Rowe” instead. While visiting his brother, Charles asked about a weekend DJ opening. John hired him. And Charles assumed his younger brother’s air name “Rowe.” Later, John resumed his rightful surname when he became a full-time program director. In his online biography, “Passing Thru,” John tells the rest of the story: “A few years later I was hired as program director of KQV in Pittsburgh, where as a member of management I was no longer a (DJ). The name Johnny Rowe was dropped as I returned to my real name John Rook. Charles, now a TV personality, continued with the air name I gave him all those years ago – Rowe.”

•Mayor Sandi Bloem and I will exchange happy birthday wishes today, as has become our habit. I’ll be 58. She’s stuck on 39. And Kootenai County Coroner Dr. Robert West will be 72. How’s that for a Nov. 20 trifecta?