March 22, 1928 - November 12, 2015

Byron (By) E. Napier, Jr., was a nationally-recognized writer-producer for WCCO Radio, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, one of America's heritage stations, for nineteen years the last ten concentrated in administration as Program Director.
His University of Arkansas years were focused (''way too much,'' his advisors would tell you) on the theatre, motion pictures, popular music and a bright, comely fellow student of grace and good humor named Mary Gay Greer. He often spoke of lying awake in university days listening to the Big Band live from ballrooms across the country on clear-channel WCCO and dreaming of being part of such a magical world as this.
By's work life began at broadcast stations in Oklahoma and Wisconsin. He was a popular disk jockey on radio in Eau Claire and hosted one of the early teenage dance shows on local television. His Sunday evening programs of classical music were heard on a network of GM stations in Wisconsin for several years.
By is particularly remembered at WCCO Radio for his extensive Bicentennial year programming, including: America, we hear you singing!, a 60 part perspective on two centuries of American music and an acclaimed series of ''conversations'' with figures from the nation's past: Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, Will Rogers, Abraham Lincoln and Ben Franklin, among others. By shaped the ''interviews'' from the personalities' own words; Charlie Boone or Roger Erickson portrayed the guests.
His series of 360 vignettes, Northwest Chronicles, won the coveted Bicentennial Award of Ohio State University's Institute for Education by Radio-TV. Governor Wendell R. Anderson cited By and his researcher/writer wife, Gay, for ''outstanding contributions to Minnesota's observation of the American Bicentennial.''
 
In retirement, he wrote several unproduced screenplays, two works for the stage and an historical fiction, Wolves in the Hard Moon, reimagining the 1862 Dakota uprising in Minnesota, a second novel, Flowerbird, an account of the internment of Japanese Americans in the second World War. A devotee of classic, contemporary and foreign films, he contributed commentary on movie history and trends to Hollywood Scriptwriter, a leading trade journal.
By's other special interests comprised symphonic, opera and Broadway music, college and professional football, current affairs and travel. A literacy advocate, he tutored immigrants in English words and American ways under the auspices of the Minnesota Literacy Council. In another time and place, he was a volunteer youth counselor. Over the years, By served in various committee posts, wrote in annual devotional journals and was a lector at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis.
He and his life mate were long-time members of the Minnesota Historical Society, Minnesota Orchestra subscribers for more than thirty years, and Patrons of Hennepin Parks, where they enjoyed biking and long walks through Minnesota's wondrous seasons. Earlier involvements included the Minneapolis Playwright's Center, the Hennepin County American Cancer Society Board of Directors and the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce Cultural Activities Committee.
By was preceded in death by his cherished wife/best friend Gay Greer Napier with whom he shared a life of abiding love and fulfillment. He is survived by sister-in-law Allyene, and nieces and nephews Connie, Vicki, Gayle, Joada, Stuart, Harrison and Steve, with their spouses and children.
By will be remembered with affection for a gentle spirit, sparkling wit and inquisitive mind; and for gifts bestowed by a generous muse: a tender sensitivity to beauty in nature, art, music, language and the human heart. His substantive writings affirm a life-long passion for social justice and the dignity of every person.
For his part, Gay had suggested a more pithy epitaph spotted on a grave in Tombstone, Arizona: ''He done his damndest.''

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