Shannon was traveling last month with his wife, Kathy Collins, who was performing as her pidgin-speaking character "Tita" at the Arizona Aloha Festival in Phoenix, when he became ill and his health rapidly deteriorated. He was hospitalized for nearly two weeks before he died. Arrangements for a celebration of life are being made.

When Shannon and Collins launched Mana'o Radio at 91.5 FM in 2002 out of a spare bedroom in their Waiehu home, they figured they'd reach a couple of listeners.

Five years later, the nonprofit and commercial-free station has a cult following reaching fans in places as diverse as Cairo and Tokyo, and locations in between, thanks to the Internet streaming that Shannon took advantage of.

"Back then, we thought it would be this tiny little station that only our friends would listen to, but within a week we started getting calls from all kinds of people," Collins, who is also a disc jockey at Mana'o, told The Maui News.

Those associated with Mana'o Radio credit its success to Shannon, who built the station from its infancy.

"He just made this thing happen from the bottom to the top, doing stuff with two cents that other stations couldn't do with thousands of dollars," said disc jockey Bill Best.

As its fan base grew, so did the station itself. Today Mana'o Radio has about 50 on-air personalities – all volunteers – doing live shows 24 hours a day. Its programming is varied and includes Club Mana'o, a weekly show featuring live performances in its studio in Paukukalo. In addition, the station does a remote broadcast from Casanova Italian Restaurant and Deli in Makawao each Sunday afternoon featuring acoustic music and a weekly broadcast from Unisan Sushi Bar and Grill.

"Barry and I were so grateful that the online community accepted (Mana'o Radio) so devotedly. It's always been our baby, and now that it's five years old, it's passed that toddler stage," Collins said.

Colleagues described Shannon as a pioneer figure in Maui's radio industry, putting his heart and soul into creating a radio station that he truly believed in.

"Mana'o Radio really embodies the noncorporate and noncommercial attitude, and those were the values that defined who he was," said Mana'o disc jockey Don Lopez.

"A lot of (disc jockeys) were pretty much being shut out of radio as it is today, which is mostly automated and computerized. There is no room for creative disc jockeys in commercial radio today, and Barry provided a home for my DJ soul when there was none," Best added.

Lopez said Shannon's engineering savvy coupled with his passion for music created an environment in which disc jockeys could express their creativity in a freethinking atmosphere.

"He wanted people to come up with their own programming, so they could be creative and free and do what they want. That's really the major legacy of Barry – he made that happen," he said.

"He was never a person who exerted his power over the other disc jockey. He chose talented people who would do a good job and just let them go," Best added.

Lopez said Shannon always had a "sense for good radio," noting that he would sometimes burst into the studio shouting after hearing a song for the first time.

"He'd come running into the room and he'd be so excited about hearing something brand new that he'd never heard before. It didn't matter what kind of music it was, as long as he liked it," Lopez said.

Lopez said he will miss sitting "knee to knee" with Shannon in the control room, swapping life stories and learning from his colleague.

"I'll miss just talking to him. We'd talk about all kinds of stuff – engineering, technology, philosophy, writing and just life in general," he said.

During those rare moments when Shannon was away from the radio station, he enjoyed hiking and camping in Haleakala Crater.

"One of his favorite things was to hike into the crater and camp. He would go to recharge and refocus himself spiritually," Collins said.

Shannon also published two books inspired by his life experiences, which Collins referred to as "colorful." He was working on his third book to complete the trilogy.

"He lived such an adventurous life and had so many true stories and crazy incidents in his head that 15 years ago he decided to write them down," Collins explained.

Barry Flanagan of the musical group Hapa said that after hearing about Shannon's deteriorating condition, he decided to dedicate his performance in Boston on Friday night to him.

"I fell in love with the radio station and Barry and Kathy. I so admired the fact that they were doing this thing that was just so free-form – I loved that kind of freethinking," said Flanagan. "It's a huge loss for their listeners, but first and foremost it's a loss for a lot of people on a personal level. He was such a warm and wonderful guy and had that aloha spirit born in him."

As for the future of Mana'o, "I think we all feel that the station was his baby, and we want to raise the radio baby and help it thrive in honor of Barry," Best said.

Born March 8, 1940, in Texas, Shannon's career in radio stemmed from his early experience in San Francisco, where he also was a private investigator and a recording engineer at Capital Records. He met Collins through his work in the Maui radio industry.

Shannon is also survived by his son, James W. Mayo, 27; his daughter, Anya Mayo, 22; and his stepson, Jimmy Beckmeyer, 29.