Hank Hadley

Hank Hadley was the Operations Manager for KCBX from 1988 until he died on August 30, 2026. For his first nine years at KCBX he was the local host of NPR's Morning Edition, arriving at the station weekday mornings at 5:30. Each morning when the alarm went off, a mighty struggle took place pitting the joy of sleep against the love of the job. The job almost always won out. In 1997 Hank started sleeping in. That's when he became the local host of All Things Considered.

Hank's position evolved as technology advanced over the years. When he started, audio editing was done on reels of audio tape with a grease pencil and a razor blade. That changed to digital sound files and a computer. Hank's duties included IT support, programming the station's computer automation system, creating the daily program logs, changing light bulbs, on-air work, and pretty much whatever else needed doing. He liked being mostly behind the scenes, but did enjoy letting a bit of his personality come through on the radio during KCBX semi-annual pledge drives.

Hank attended college at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, where he first fell in love with public radio — initially as a phone answerer for the college station's pledge drive, then working his way into the production department, and finally becoming an announcer for their morning classical music program.

When Hank moved to the Central Coast, he worked at a small commercial radio station. But he started showing up at KCBX asking if he could look at the list of available jobs in public radio that the station received regularly. Hank would sit on the couch poring through job listings. It didn't take long, though, before General Manager Frank Lanzone decided to hire Hank himself. Hank and KCBX never looked back.