George Wingrove Boosey, 77, a retired public radio executive, died Saturday, May 11, 2024, in his apartment in Azalea Estates Retirement Community in Fayetteville, GA, where he recently moved following a long illness. His wife of 48 years, Ms. MJ Pearle, was by his side. George and MJ met in their 20s as competing reporters for the Little Rock, AR, bureaus of United Press International and The Associated Press, respectively. 

   George was born in Little Rock, AR, to Richard W. “Dick” Boosey and Gladys Burfield Boosey, who are deceased. Survivors, in addition to his wife, include his son, G. Colin Boosey, daughter-in-law Jess and granddaughter Becca, all of Peachtree City, GA. Other survivors are brother Harry A. Boosey of Jackson, TN, and bother Fred S. Boosey of Benton, AR. Two siblings predeceased him, Richard W. Boosey Jr., formerly of Mount Vernon, AR, and Anne Boosey Melvin, formerly of Monroe, LA.  Other survivors include many nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews and one great grand niece and nephew.

   George, who earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Arkansas, began his journalistic career as a teen-aged copy boy for the Pulitzer Prize-winning Arkansas Gazette. His career took him and MJ to six states. Before his retirement, George was a public radio consultant. He helped bring National Public Radio (NPR) to the last two states with no public radio, Rhode Island and Delaware.    On 9/11, George was managing director of news and programming for WBUR in Boston. His team played a pivotal role in NPR’s news coverage of the tragedy. “I heard Bob Edwards on NPR announce 9/11,” said George’s boss and WBUR General Manager Jane Cristo. “I rushed to BUR, ran into George in the door and George was waiting for me. We produced two hours that NPR ran live for a week. George never cared about getting credit for his contributions. He just always did his best.  I will always be grateful for the exemplary work he did at WBUR that helped make it one of the best Public Radio Stations in the US.”

   George changed the station’s format to News/Talk and was the first public radio program director to have his station rank #1 in a Top Ten market. He helped create nationally distributed programs Here and Now, Only A Game, The Connection, On Point and Inside-Out.

   George had many interests. He was an avid reader and owned what MJ described as a “small town” library.  He was a volunteer for the Boy Scouts, Little League and KidsVoting Durham, NC, where he lived before moving to Georgia.

   He was passionate about his favorite hobby ventriloquism, which he began as a child and owned many dummies, as well as ventriloquism memorabilia. He enjoyed attending the Vent Haven Convention, an annual gathering of more than 400 amateur and professional ventriloquists. 

   “George’s knowledge of the art was amazing,” said professional vent Todd Oliver, often a headliner at Branson, MO, and America’s Got Talent performer. “He was a very kind gentleman who was very encouraging to me and many others.”

   Another vent friend Bob Abdou of Hilton Head, SC, was impressed with George’s large collection of items about legendary vent Edgar Bergen. He helped MJ donate those items to a specially- themed Edgar Bergen restaurant in Decatur, MI, where Bergen grew up.

   Arrangements will remain private. The family suggests donations to George’s favorite organizations: the Southern Poverty Law Center, Doctors Without Borders and the American Diabetes Association.

   The family is grateful for the kind and caring support of George from staff and management of Azalea Estates and Southern Grace Hospice which allowed him to pass peacefully in his apartment.

The Boosey family is being assisted by Georgia Cremation-Fayetteville.