HAVING A BEER WITH KEVIN FLYNN

PHOTO BY: URBAN TOAD MEDIA

Having a Beer with Kevin Flynn (while social distancing)

WRITTEN BY: MEGHAN FEIR • PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY: MEGHAN FEIR AND KEVIN FLYNN

Some people seem to be magnets for out-of-the-ordinary experiences and run-ins with the rich and famous. During his 40 years of working in the radio industry, Kevin Flynn, the senior producer of The Flag 1100 AM, has brushed shoulders with the likes of Sally Field, James Garner and many others. As we chatted via Zoom to ensure the Coronavirus was held at bay, he regaled me with a couple of his life stories, from impromptu dinners with Bruce Willis and Demi Moore to spending the day with John Travolta.

Good Life: With all the COVID-19 stuff happening, how has that changed your job in radio?

Kevin Flynn: We’re deemed essential, since we’re a news organization. Working at The Flag is a little more weighted than my years working in music radio. People are tuning in to find out what’s going on and relying on us to be there. It’s a different world being in news talk radio, but I love it.

Hearing of these surreal experiences reminded me of bygone days when we actually wanted to stumble into other people; when we didn’t have to be paranoid about strangers being closer than six feet away, of shaking their hands and noticing audible signs of allergy season.

26 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com Although we couldn’t sit in Drekker’s fine establishment, Flynn enjoyed a Drekker brew from the comfort of his home as we chatted about lake life, Corona isolation, and if he’s watched “Tiger King” yet.

GL: Have you stocked up on anything?

KF: I live on a lake in the Detroit Lakes area. This will be our 24th summer here. We live in the country pretty far out, so I always stock up on stuff. I live on a food and water source. Let the zombies loose. I’m good. I have plenty of ammo out here, too. What got to me was the toilet paper business. Do you poop yourself to death with this thing or what?

What got to me was the toilet paper business. Do you poop yourself to death with this thing or what?" - Kevin Flynn “

GL: Yeah, that definitely seems to be the thing people don’t want to run out of during isolation. I guess they don’t want to wipe with moldy leaves. KF: People were grabbing paper towels, too, and I thought, “Ooh, that’s going to be a rough wipe.” GL: Plus, are they septic safe? I doubt it.

GL: Have you guys watched “Tiger King” yet?

KF: Funny you asked that. I just came home and started watching. I have to see what it’s all about. I’m 10 minutes in and—I don’t know. What’s funny is I spent a couple years living in San Antonio and I actually met a guy who owned a big cat farm outside of the city. He had seven lions, three tigers and a couple of other things. They were all his personal pets. They would roll around with him and one of them slept with him in the bed. He’s going to wind up with a leg off one of these days, but okay, dude.

GL: If you were in the WWE, what would your wrestling name be?

KF: I’m Irish, so probably the Irish Kid, Irish Tornado or something like that. I’m Irish and Norwegian, which usually means I’m too stupid to know when I’m too drunk. GL: Maybe the Irish Viking. KF: There you go. If I have a UFC name, it would be Kevin the Irish Hound Flynn or something like that. The Irish beast. Kevin the Irish beast. Then I’d have some Dropkick Murphys as my walk-out music.

GL: How did you end up having dinner with Bruce Willis and Demi Moore?

KF: I spent two years in Los Angeles and worked for a station called Pirate Radio. I basically covered all the red-carpet stuff, so I got to meet a lot of stars. Bruce Willis was coming down the line for the “Diehard 2” premiere and we were at the very end of the line. The guy I worked for at the time knew him from years back, so I said, “Scott Shannon says hi,” and he stopped for a second and was like, “Pirate Radio, oh yeah!” Then he was like, “Are you hungry?” and I was like, “Yeah, sure.” Demi Moore was with him and she’d just gotten done doing the movie “Ghost.” I got to tag along with them back to the VIP area where all the food was and ended up hanging out for 45 minutes and interviewed him and Demi. It was pretty cool.

GL: What’s a little-known hobby of yours?

KF: I’ve been working on a few screenplays and working on a pilot. It’s kind of an old west, Black Hills tale set in the mid-1800s. Maybe someday it’ll come together.

GL: When did you begin to have an interest in acting?

KF: A little in high school. As soon as I was out of high school I got into radio and didn’t really focus on it. About five years after I graduated my dad died, so I decided I was going to go out to Los Angeles, but I basically got stopped in Phoenix. I ended up staying in Phoenix for five years and did five films, including an HBO film with Sam Elliot and a movie called “Star Man” with Jeff Bridges. I’m just an extra in most of these films, but I got on to a film called “Murphy’s Romance,” which was with Sally Field and James Garner. I got to know and babysit Sally Field’s kids and golfed with James Garner. It was an amazing experience.

GL: If you had to say you have a hero now, who do you think it would be?

28 / THE GOOD LIFE / urbantoadmedia.com KF: I’m just a fan of people who do good and are positive. When my dad died when I was 22, I fell into a funk for a while. I worked for a guy in Phoenix who ended up being the vice president of FOX Sports Radio. He was kind of my mentor. His thing was “Always dare to be great.” I was working for Andy, still doing radio and not being as good of a guy as I should have been and he said, “Here. You need this.” It was a book and cassettes by Tony Robins. The more I listened and read, I realized that my mood and day is up to me. If I let the

world dictate my mood, I’ll never be happy. Wake up in the morning and don’t question if it’s going to be a good day. It’s always awesome. You’re still above ground, so why live your life halfway? My heroes now are like Steve Hallstrom. His passion, compassion, cheerleading and overall demeanor is a pleasure to work with every day because he doesn’t let anything get in his way for being great. Same with Alex and the whole team that I work with, which is a breath of fresh air.

GL: What does living the good life mean to you?

KF: The lake. I commute an hour in and an hour home, but on my way in I get updated on the world, and every day I’m going home to the lake, so it’s not really a bad deal. I was in LA for a little over two years and then I went down to San Diego for about a year, which only solidified my hatred for southern California. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Neither one of my parents made it to 60, so when I turned 30 I thought I was halfway. I was like, “I’m going to go and see if I can get a place on the lake because I always loved the lake life.” If you have a lake place you know what I’m talking about, so for me, it’s the lake. •