Cowboy Boots' trail leads to hall of fame
By Anne Burnett

Bob "Cowboy" Butz

A Colorado broadcast luminary, Bob "Cowboy" Butz ('48), has left his mark on Coloradans' eyes, ears and hearts. In May, Butz was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado Hall of Fame.

His deep voice and kind face flashed across some of the first televisions in the state, and before that, the native Coloradan's smooth delivery helped him get a job at the first radio station in Boulder.

Butz, who was born and raised in Trinidad, said he shrugged off his studies in civil engineering at Trinidad Junior College in the late 1940s to work at KCRT, a new radio station in his hometown. His deep and memorable voice soon had colleagues encouraging him to pursue larger audiences, so in May 1947, he took a job as part of the initial staff at KBOL in Boulder, where he became known as DJ Cowboy Boots, taking requests from a burgeoning Boulder audience.

"'This is not so bad,' I thought. I developed a pretty good following," said Butz of his KBOL days.

Butz graduated from the University of Colorado Journalism School in 1948, where he studied days and worked nights on the air at KBOL, then at 16th and Pearl streets, where he soon became news director.

"I miss Old Main," Butz said of his CU days. "Even though I never had an ordinary student's life because I worked every night at the station."

After a two-year stint in the Army, Butz's hard work and late nights on the air paid off when he was offered a job at KLZ radio in Denver, replacing Carl Akers as a news announcer so Akers could begin a career in television.

In a serendipitous twist during Butz's first week at KLZ, Akers decided he did not want to leave radio for television, opening up an anchor position for Butz on KLZ-Channel 7 news in 1953, making him one of Colorado's first television anchors.

"He was very thought out and quickly became a respected broadcaster," said Merwin Smith, chairman of the board of the Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado and Butz's long-time friend and colleague.

Butz, in 1948

For nearly 20 years, Butz delivered the midday and weekend evening news on Channel 7, becoming a recognizable face in households all over the state. His voice was heard over KLZ Radio as well, his newscasts broadcast in the mornings throughout much of his tenure as a Channel 7 anchor.

"He is a very meticulous individual, a good writer and a great newsman," said Fred Hobbs ('51), former president of the Broadcast Pioneers of Colorado who now teaches public relations courses at the School.

Hobbs said he worked with Butz in several capacities, writing his newscasts and substituting for him on weekend anchor shifts. Hobbs considered him his mentor for many years and reminisced enthusiastically about Butz's numerous achievements as a newscaster, such as his outstanding ability to ad lib with poise and confidence, and his candor in breaking stories such as John Gilbert Graham's bombing of a United Airlines plane flying out of Denver in 1956.

"He was a top-notch radio and TV personality," Hobbs said.

When Time-Life sold the KLZ properties to McGraw Hill in 1972, Channel 7 became KMGH-TV, and Butz became the news director for KLZ Radio.

During that time, he said he began working for Talking Books, narrating magazine articles and books for the blind and visually impaired. He remained an employee of Talking Books for 31 years, creating 250 books and scores of periodicals, and helping countless people to experience books through his deep and generous voice.

In 1983, Butz achieved a Gold Record Award from Talking Books for narrating more than 10 million sound sheets in only seven years. In 1995, Butz received the prestigious Alexander Scourby Award for Narrator of the Year, presented in New York City's Symphony Hall.

"It was one of my career highlights to have Katie Couric be the mistress of ceremonies when my wife and I flew to New York to receive the award," Butz said.

He lives in Northglenn with Jeanne Butz, his wife of 31 years.