Joe Pinner – A South Carolina Broadcasting Legend

South Carolina Public Radio | By Tut Underwood

Published May 29, 2017 at 5:01 PM EDT

Jovial Joe Pinner has been a familiar face, and voice, in South Carolina broadcasting for more than a half century.

Joe Pinner has been a fixture on South Carolina television since 1963. He's known from one end of South Carolina to the other - and beyond, not only as a weatherman and familiar children’s show host "Mr. Knozit" for 37 years, but as a commercial spokesman and emcee at scores of parades and festivals statewide. Today Pinner, who still pitches in at WIS-TV on Fridays at age 80-something, talks about his beginnings in radio, how he developed his familiar, booming voice, and the origins of the Knozit show. Pinner's son Greg and former WIS-TV anchorwoman Susan Aude tell what it’s like to live and work with South Carolina’s bigger-than-life personality.

Tags

Tut Underwood

Tut Underwood is producer of South Carolina Focus, a weekly news feature. A native of Alabama, Tut graduated from Auburn University with a BA in Speech Communication. He worked in radio in his hometown before moving to Columbia where he received a Master of Mass Communications degree from the University of South Carolina, and worked for local radio while pursuing his degree. He also worked in television. He was employed as a public information specialist for USC, and became Director of Public Information and Marketing for the South Carolina State Museum. His hobbies include reading, listening to music in a variety of styles and collecting movies and old time radio programs.

See stories by Tut Underwood