Notes & Queries – December 2021

Queries Q: I recently sold off some of my bluegrass memorabilia, including a 1951 Stanley Brothers song and picture folio. The booklet contained a photo of a disc jockey by the name of Jerry Donovan. Just curious as to who he is/was and why he’s included in a Stanley Brothers booklet? Tom Adler, Lexington, Kentucky. A: Jerry Donovan was a broadcaster on WCYB in Bristol, Virginia, and was an announcer for the station’s Farm & Fun Time program, of which the Stanley Brothers were longtime cast members. Born Jerry Donovan Garrett in Graham, North Carolina, on March 9, 1919, he spent his early days on farms in South Carolina and California. He served eight and a half years in the Marines, three of which were overseas as part of the First Division. He landed in Bristol, Virginia/Tennessee, as a recruiting sergeant for the Marines. It was there he met his future wife, Eleanor Ruth Cassell; the couple married on December 16, 1949, at which time Jerry’s occupation was listed as