Gary Dawson

Legacy Circle member Gary Dawson.

Legacy Circle member Gary Dawson didn't plan to stay in New York for twelve years. After growing up in Southern California and going to law school at Syracuse, he landed a job in upstate New York and started his legal career. But one day he looked up and realized a dozen years had passed and he hadn't planned on putting roots down out east.

Gary had been coming to Colorado on vacation for years, hiking in the summer and skiing in winter, so it was natural when he asked himself, "What if I moved to the place where I take my vacations?" In 2008, he got a job offer with the 18th Judicial District Attorney's office and made the move to Denver. He's been here, enjoying the weather and our myriad outdoor recreation opportunities, ever since. "Everyone has that natural conversation starter about what you do outside-hiking, skiing, running, biking. It's a shared language that doesn't exist everywhere."

One of the first things Gary did when he arrived was find the local public radio station. Early in his career, public radio was his lifeline to the wider world in upstate New York. "Basically as soon as I got to Denver, I was like, where's the public radio station?"

CPR impressed him with our amount of local programming, including news and podcast shows produced here, by and for Coloradans. He highlights Colorado Postcards, those short audio insights that capture something essential about the state. "You're not going to find that kind of information literally anywhere else in a manner that's going to be easy to digest and so accessible," he says.

Gary and his wife were motivated to start estate planning to ensure their pets will be taken care of in any scenario. They don't have children, but it was important for them to create a trust for someone to care for their animals. Then they started talking about what to do with residual funds and organizations that mattered to them.

"For me, CPR was one of the more natural ones," Gary says. "I listen to it every day. It's been a big part of my life. So why wouldn't I want to give back in that fashion?"

They worked with an estate attorney and included about ten charities, broken down by percentages based on their affinity for each. He hopes his gift will sustain CPR's existence well into the future. Even though he's been an Evergreen member and included CPR in his estate before the 2025 federal funding rescission from public media, those events underscored for him the role the public plays in creating the communities we want to live in. He invites individuals who care about public radio to make a personal financial commitment to sustain it, especially on behalf of those who can't donate themselves.

"Just go ahead and do it. There's no downside to including CPR in your estate plans." He and his wife structured their gift to ensure their beloved pets and family members are taken care of first; the residual gifts will support the causes they care about.

Gary's belief, however, is that the real challenge isn't convincing his fellow listeners to include CPR in their plans, it's getting them to commit to estate planning in the first place. The latest data shows that over half of Americans don't have up-to-date estate plans. Even among his peers and friends, Gary hears so many people say "we have to do that, we have to do that" but never follow through. His advice? Just pick a date. Ask friends for estate attorney recommendations. And do it.

For Gary, it comes down to supporting things you believe in. CPR has become part of the ritual of his daily life in the familiar voices on his commute telling stories that connect him to communities across Colorado. He moved to the place he took his vacations and now he's making sure future Coloradans will have access to the local reporting that helps them understand and appreciate this place too.

Updated March 2026