Michael F. Starr

Michael Starr was an educator, attorney, author, broadcaster, and film producer. Having earned a BA Degree in Economics at St. Francis University and JD, LLM at Georgetown Law School, he served as a JAG officer in the United States Air Force and a volunteer in Mississippil with the National Lawyer's Guild helping Black Mississippians in their battle for the right to vote in 1964. With his brother Peter and conservative icon William F. Buckley, Mike founded Starr Broadcasting, which grew from one ailing Omaha radio station into a major, multifaceted media conglomerate. He also served in the Ford administration as Director, Intragovernmental Special Programs for the Federal Energy Administration. Mike eventually became Professor and Chair of the Radio-Television Department at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, and wrote two books, "Electronic Media Management" (with Peter Pringle, Focal Press 2006) and "What a 'Friend' We Had in Bill: William F. Buckley, Jr. and the Rise, Betrayal, and Fall of Starr Broadcasting" (Stroud & Hall Publishers, 2015). Shortly after the publication of the latter book, Mike passed away from natural causes in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, on November 23, 2015.