Ron Davis Has a Lifetime of Stories to Tell

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? 
“A U.S. Senator. It’s a club of 100—exclusive, but not too exclusive. You could debate and deliberate the issues of the day and try to change the world. Outside of that, I was always going to be a writer. I was the editor of our elementary school newspaper.”

Tell us about 417 Magazine’s beginnings.*
“417 Magazine was originally started in 1998 by Radio 2000 [Hot 106.7 and Z104.1 locally] and owner ‘Super Frank’ Copsidas turned to me and Mike Wingo to figure it out. Copsidas said that the whole point was to create something out of nothing and that we had to make it last.”

What is your favorite form of media?
“It’s print, for this reason: The curious, palpable magic of letters that form words. And those words form sentences, and just from that alone, you can make someone feel. You are a magician when you can do that.”

On looking back…
“I’m just a kid from a blue-collar background, and I’ve gotten to interview presidents. I’ve gotten to meet really cool people. I’ve gotten to ask impertinent questions of people. I don’t know how the hell that happened. And so how can I not be grateful? You get to meet interesting people, you get to tell their stories, you get to learn something new about a human being. The best takeaway is sometimes when they leave parts of themselves with you, those are seeds that help you grow. And you become something different, and you carry them with you always.”

On stories that stick with you…
“Remember Jackie Johns, the girl from Nixa [who was murdered in 1985]? I was already working at a radio station in Bolivar when that story started, and then I went to KSMU and then I went to the paper, and then went to the magazine, and then, all the way through TV, that story kept following me. I got to know Jackie’s parents and her sister, and I feel like I’ve known Jackie all my life. I never met her. Her sister Jeanne posted something recently and it was beautiful. Jeannie found the sweater in storage. You know, the one that everybody remembers—the photo of Jackie and the sweater. Just seeing that sweater without Jackie Johns attached to it… It doesn’t even seem like it’s real. I wish I would have known her because she’s always been with me.”

On what he does when he’s not working...
“I’m a caretaker to cats. My cats have human names, Monte Cristo, Madeline and Pierre. They’re French. And I listen to new music. I have a playlist of my favorite songs—there are 67 songs that I like.”

On his future book…
“It’s called the Red Diaries. I’ve written about 400 pages, and a lot of it is just based on my experiences. I’ve lived through two centuries of media. The analog and the digital, and that’s an interesting angle.”

On wisdom from his mother Akiko Hirata…
“My mother was the most fascinating person I’ve ever met. She gave me the understanding of a life motto ‘What are you afraid of?’ It applies in everything, whether it’s relationships, whether it’s work, whether it’s a challenging time you are facing. What are you afraid of? I think about that 4-foot 11-inch-tall woman in her early 20s, who moved an ocean away from her home in Japan after surviving World War II. If she can do that, what the hell am I afraid of?”

*Biz 417’s sister publication, 417 Magazine, changed ownership from Radio 2000 to Gary and John Whitaker in 2001 and is now owned by Logan Aguirre.