On this day (December 8) in 1912, Jack Stapp was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He began working in radio and quickly rose to a national position. Later, he started Tree Publishing, which became one of the most important publishing houses in country music. He was also instrumental in adding some legendary performers to the Grand Ole Opry lineup.
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According to the Country Music Hall of Fame, Stapp relocated with his family to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1912. A few years later, he got his first radio job, working at the Winehoff Hotel. There, he programmed the station that played in the hotel’s rooms. Later, he attended the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he worked on the campus radio station WGST. When WGST became a commercial station, Stapp stayed on board and worked his way up to the position of program manager. Before long, Stapp moved to New York, where he worked at the CBS network headquarters, eventually becoming a network manager…