Keith Altiero  Biography
WDBO-AM

Born in New York and raised in the coal-mining town of Shenandoah, Pa., Keith wanted to be the best at whatever he did. At age 12 he fought Hodgkin's disease and was part of a pioneering study to find a cure. Keith, like so many others in the broadcast field, was "bitten by the bug" at an early age. He worked at a station in Pennsylvania as well as other markets including North Carolina before joining WDBO-AM 580 in 1999. At 16, Keith flew a plane solo. He decided to become a race-car driver and participated in closed-circuit road racing with Sports Car Club of America, even going to the national championship. He trained and raced continually and then moved to Central Florida to get back into radio. In 2001 he won five awards for his work from the Florida Associated Press and a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for his political reporting. Keith died Sunday, December 19, 2004 after a two-year fight with cancer. He was 51.

From wdbo.com
WDBO-AM 580 veteran reporter Keith Altiero died Sunday, December 19, 2004 after a two-year fight with cancer. Our hearts are heavy with sadness. Keith was a natural. His brilliance was not taught in journalism school, but rather gleaned from a life of experience as a writer, race car driver and pilot. That is what made him a great reporter and story teller. Hired by WDBO in 1999, he jumped head first right into presidential politics. In August, he broke the controversial story of Republicans working out of the elections office in Seminole County. It created quite a stir and he was subpoenaed to testify. Keith was squarely in the middle of the Bush/Gore controversy. And that's the way Keith liked it. Square in the middle of things. Keith hated to take a routine assignment. In fact, if there was a seemingly "routine" story, Keith would make it extraordinary. He developed his own material and used his own experience and expertise to frame the story. Being a former race car driver, Keith covered the death of Dale Earnhardt from an "insiders" prospective and made us cry. He chilled us with his story of the Oklahoma bombing survivor who wanted to watch the Execution of her tormentor. He made us laugh when he rode the Kindergarten bus on the first day of school and had a first time Kindergartner tell his Mom he was OK over the air. Keith defined award winning. In 2001 alone he won the lions share of the Newsroom awards - five from the Florida Associated Press and a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for his political reporting. There were many more awards in the years that followed. Keith had heart. He fought his cancer with chemotherapy, surgery and work. During and in between the sessions, as soon as he could, he'd be back in the newsroom ready to go. Developing story lines, spouting ideas and formulating his plan for the next day's Central Florida's Morning News. He did that until he could do it no more.
                                                                       

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