The owner of three Santa Barbara County radio stations died in a paragliding accident in eastern Ventura County as colleagues remembered the man known for loving broadcasting, aviation and adventure.
Shawn Knight, a Santa Ynez Valley resident in his 50s, owned Knight Broadcasting, including KRAZy Country 105.9-FM, Mix96, adult contemporary at 96.7-FM and KUHL, a talk radio station at 1440 AM and 106.3 FM.
Members of the Ventura County Fire Department responded to a report at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday of a paraglider down north of Highway 33, west of Reyes Peak and near Pine Mountain Lodge, according to fire Capt. Brian McGrath.
A fatality resulted from the crash, McGrath told Noozhawk, adding that the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office was in charge of the investigation.
In addition to Knight Broadcasting, Knight was involved in Cloud 9 Advertising.
“He stressed the importance of bringing local radio to the airwaves, including by keeping a live morning show on,” Ben Heighes, KUHL news director, wrote on Facebook. “We mourn the passing of Shawn but ensure our listeners that our mission remains keeping radio local on AM 1440 and FM 106.3 KUHL.”
Employees, who called Knight a great boss, and friends were shocked to learn of Knight’s death on Thursday.
“To him, radio was very important in locals’ lives,” said Jeff Williams, who met Knight when both worked for Clear Channel radio in Santa Barbara before Knight ventured into ownership.
In addition to being passionate about radio stations, Knight launched other businesses, including Cloud 9 for towing banners with a plane, a computer repair business and more.
“He was quite an entrepreneur. He really enjoyed business. He liked people. He was not a stuck in the office kind of person,” Williams said.
Knight grew up in Santa Barbara County, graduating from Santa Ynez Valley Union High School. He reportedly later attended California State University, Fresno and Cal Poly.
“He got sucked into the broadcast industry and kind of never got out of it,” Williams added.
Friends recalled Knight being a bit of an adrenaline junkie, including one skateboarding incident that left him banged up a couple of years ago.
Knight, a licensed pilot, also loved aviation and was active at the Santa Ynez Airport.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.