SOME BRITISH GUY mourns the age of the Polaroid camera, whose maker has filed for bankruptcy.

“Emperor” Lee Smith, 59, was Seattle’s premier top-40 AM disc jockey in the ’70s, just about the last time there were such things as top-to AM disc jockeys. He held the morning shift on KJR from 1969 to 1974, and aimed his show at the teens and preteens left behind by a “youth culture” industry more interested in following their older siblings. He spouted witty, energetic banter between the hits of the Spinners, Dolly Parton, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. He made public appearances (including annual “chariot races”) clad in a burgundy toga and gold sandals. He made his audience feel they had a DJ, nay a celebrity, of their very own. When he was transferred into the station’s sales department, his last on-air day featured a Watergate-themed comedy skit, “The Impeachment of an Emperor.” He died Oct. 12 from cancer.

Norm Gregory, one of Smith’s former KJR colleagues, said, “The first time I saw him was in 1967 and the last time was in 1995 and he was the same guy from that first day to the last. Emp was a wild and wacky radio personality, a great father, and a wonderful friend.”

More on Smith can be had at the KJR Memories site.