A native of Hillsdale County, Doug Spade grew up on the family’s dairy farm near Frontier, Michigan. Although blind since birth, Doug never let his disability keep him from actively pursuing his many interests. He had regular chores to do, and he became fascinated with broadcasting at an early age.

That fascination led to his first big break in radio, when at age eight, he co-hosted a weekly program on WCSR in Hillsdale, where he was known as “Tiny Tim.” His co-host, “Scrooge” soon faded into the background, as “Tiny Tim” took center stage.

Doug attended the Michigan School for the Blind for the first four years of his education before becoming one of the first blind students mainstreamed into the public schools when he entered the Camden-Frontier system.

After attending Hillsdale College his freshman year, Doug transferred to Adrian College while also working at WLEN in Adrian. He became a full-time employee at the radio station following graduation and started the telephone talk show “Partyline,” which he hosted for 25 years, in addition to being the station’s operations manager.

Doug was elected State Representative in 1998, becoming the first Democrat to serve Lenawee County in the House since 1914—or as Doug likes to put it, “before there was radio.” He was the second blind person to serve in that capacity in Michigan history, and his Leader Dog, Toby---the first service dog to ever accompany a Michigan legislator--- became the unofficial 111th member of the House of Representatives.

Doug has been a partner in four different small businesses and has held a real estate sales license for more than 20 years.