LSU asks for help in locating legendary broadcaster Jim Hawthorne

[jbcarol]

Jim Hawthorne, the legendary radio voice of LSU sports who retired this past season, has not been heard from since Saturday evening

Hawthorne, 71, had been the Tigers' play-by-play football voice since 1984, and he also began calling men's basketball games with the 1979-80 season. He had called 387 consecutive Tigers football games before a medical procedure last November forced him to miss last season's LSU-Alabama game.

Hawthorne has not been officially reported missing, but LSU is trying to locate him.

https://twitter.com/LSUBonnette/status/764909427547746304

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/KevinWAFB/status/764935054019563521

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Carvell_AJC/status/765002191585280000

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/KelsWingert/status/764974631111516160

Mark Schlabach ‏@Mark_Schlabach 12h12 hours ago

Bonnette & others launched a boat to rescue Jim Hawthorne and his wife. Others got there first so they're trying to find those who need help

LSU assoc. AD Michael Bonnette just told me he's on a boat riding down a 4-lane highway in Baton Rouge rescuing people from flooded homes

Kelsey Wingert ‏@KelsWingert 12h12 hours ago Virginia, USA

#LSU SID Michael Bonnette just has a Facebook live video. He has at least 6-8 people in the boat that he has rescued. Incredible.

[The OTR]

great story!

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/LSUBeatTweet/status/764991182866874369

From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. since the spring, Hawthorne has hosted a country music show on WTGE - 100.7 FM, "The Tiger".

His plan for Sunday night, August 14, was a tribute show on Elvis Presley, who died on August 16, 1977.

Instead, he and his wife Carol spent a harrowing Saturday and Sunday stranded without cellular phone service at their flooded home in the Park Forest subdivision.

Finally shortly before 7 p.m., LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette, who had been in contact with media and participated in Hawthorne's search and rescue, tweeted the following statement.

"Jim Hawthorne has been rescued, He's safe. Thanks for all the help," Bonnette said.

[jbcarol]

Jerry Tipton: Among the some 30,000 people rescued was retired LSU radio play-by-play man Jim Hawthorne and his wife, Carol. The tale of a dramatic rescue had volunteers riding boats hearing cries for help from the Hawthornes.

"I yelled as loud as I could, and they heard me," Hawthorne, 72, said in one story. "I was in water up to my you-know-whats. I was yelling, 'HEY! HEY!' The motor stopped and they came around and came back."

When contacted on Thursday, Hawthorne said the stories of his rescue exaggerated the melodrama. He said there were about 15 inches of water in his home, which he called an "inconvenience."

Hawthorne added, "People have lost everything they own. ... We were never in danger."

Concern, fortunately unwarranted, grew because the flood left the Hawthornes without electricity and cellphone service. In the absence of contact, relatives imagined the worst. Volunteers brought Hawthorne and his wife into one of their boats last Sunday. They've stayed with a friend.

Hawthorne, who retired in March, called LSU football, basketball and baseball games for 36 years. His time included three Final Fours and 17 trips to the College World Series.

"Nine national championship games," he said, "and we won eight of them."