When word came at lunchtime Thursday that Tom Joerres was retiring at the end of August, it wasn't exactly a surprise.

Just a few weeks ago, I'd been talking to him about the rumors that he was calling it quits this summer as president and general manager of Saga Communication's Milwaukee stations, headed by WKLH-FM (96.5), a pioneer in the "classic rock" genre, and rocker WHQG-FM (102.9).

Joerres admitted that something could be coming in a way that made it clear something was coming.

For nearly three decades, Joerres has been the power behind a successful cluster of radio stations pushing a local flavor despite out-of-town ownership. He not only has two of the market's big morning shows in his portfolio -- Dave and Carole on WKLH and Bob and Brian on WHQG -- but Joerres has kept a little show like Steve Palec's "Rock and Roll Roots" going on Sunday mornings.

That bit of local color, or sound, is increasingly an anomaly in commercial radio.

For his lesser signals, Joerres has tried to keep his stations cutting edge. He kept "smooth jazz" on what is now WZBK-FM (106.9) until it couldn't sustain itself, replacing it last month with "Big Buck Country."

Classical music fans may remember him as the guy who killed their kind of music on WFMR-FM, which preceded "smooth jazz." But Joerres should be remembered as the guy who kept a commercial classical music station going longer than expected, before bowing to the inevitable.

I talked to him again Thursday afternoon, and the 58-year-old Joerres spoke more of life than work. He did talk of his two career goals -- general manager by 30 and out the door by the time he reached 60. He hit the first goal in 1982. He's about to accomplish that second ahead of schedule.

Then he spoke of "how fragile life is." Joerres first wife, Linda, died in 1987, leaving him to raise their four children. He married Jodi in 2004, and calls her an "unbelievably great partner."

Joerres won't necessarily leave the radio business entirely. But the day-to-day stuff will be done at the end of August. He had planned to leave last year, but the economy tanked and he didn't want to turn things over to a successor until things calmed down.  And he knew that the days of smooth jazz on 106.9 FM were numbered, and wanted to oversee that transition.

Now he wants to leave before the next year's budgeting process starts in September. He'll spend time in Florida and around the country with three of his now-grown kids and their kids. And he'll also continue to maintain a home here.

"I've always wanted to stay here," he tells me.

On TV: ABC has unveiled its fall schedule, which launches Monday, Sept. 20 with "Dancing with the Stars" at 7, followed by "Castle" at 9. Here's the complete premiere schedule.

• Michael Ausiello reports at EW.com that Marg Helgenberger is, indeed, returning to CBS' "CSI" this fall.
• TV Land has ordered a second 20-episode season of "Hot in Cleveland."
• New York Magazine says AMC is looking into resuscitating the canceled "Law & Order."
• The best reaction to Conan O'Brien's Emmy nominations for his short-lived "Tonight Show" came, via Twitter, from O'Brien himself: "Congrats to my staff on 4 Emmy nominations. This bodes well for the future of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien."

Finally, the "Mary Tyler Moore Show" Finale: Thanks to the fine TV Shows on DVD site for the word that the seventh and final season of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" will be released Oct. 5.

Among the "extras" is the rarely-screened curtain call from the last episode of the landmark sitcom: