Michael Titterton, whose 17 years as president and general manager of Hawai‘i Public Radio from 1999 to 2016 saw the nonprofit broadcaster grow to reach radio audiences across Hawaii, died Oct. 4 at his home in Honolulu. He was 76.

HPR Vice President and News Director Bill Dorman remembered Titterton as “simultaneously fiercely independent and intensely collaborative, a big believer in the power of education in the community, the importance of bringing educational opportunities to everyone, and at no cost, which is the entire tie-in to public radio.”

“When he hired me (as news director) back in the now-ancient days in 2011, my background was more in commercial media, and he really helped me in getting to a deeper understanding of the differences in this world,” Dorman recalled. “He was truly a mentor to a whole generation of folks on both sides of the microphone, with public radio in particular. I felt lucky to be able to work with him and have him as a friend as well.”

Michael Andrew Titterton was born in London and grew up in the city’s East End, which showed the scars of having been heavily bombed during World War II. He left school when he was 15, got a job working on an assembly line, started a small business that went bust when his partner took off with their operating cash, and then set off on an open-ended odyssey across Europe and North Africa.

Titterton’s skill as a mechanic gave him a way to make money when he needed it. An opportunity to smuggle hashish from Morocco to Britain in a camel saddle proved to be a bad idea, but could have turned much worse than it did: Titterton was held for three months in a Moroccan jail but was then released to go on his way.

His adventures continued, and in Greece he met a woman. Together they went to Israel to work on a kibbutz, and he followed her to the United States, where they ended up in Ann Arbor, Mich., home of the University of Michigan. Titterton began thinking about going to college, and despite not having the British equivalent of a high school diploma, he was able to finagle his way into the University of Windsor in Canada, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in communications.

From there, diploma in hand, he went to Wayne State University in Detroit and graduated with a master’s degree in rhetoric.

It was at Wayne State, working as a volunteer at the campus radio station, that he found his calling. Titterton worked his way up as a reporter, as a producer, and then as an operations manager. He helped his college radio station become one of the first national public radio stations.

It was the start of more than 20 years developing, managing and consulting for public radio stations across the United States. Titterton became known for his ability to turn failing radio stations into winners.

By 1999, Titterton had reached the point where it seemed there were no more challenges to take on in American public radio, and he was planning to return to Europe when he learned of a flailing station in Hawaii. At the time, Hawai‘i Public Radio had a limited broadcast range that covered part of Oahu and some areas on the neighbor islands, and funding was uncertain.

Titterton liked the challenge but didn’t expect to stay longer than necessary.

“In all honesty, I thought, you know, this will be one more fix-it job,” Titterton told Leslie Wilcox, host of “Long Story Short” on PBS Hawaii, in 2017. “But I came out and met with the board, and they were all very interesting people. They were clearly all agents of change. That’s why they were doing what they were doing and were so committed to it. There was a real will, there was a real spirit about the organization. It just felt right. And we reached an agreement, and I came out and went with them.”

Titterton stayed for 17 years. As president and general manager, he directed the expansion of HPR until it could be heard across the state. He also oversaw a dramatic increase in paid membership. HPR paid off its mortgage and became debt-free in 2007.

Titterton’s honest enthusiasm and “exotic” British accent made him an effective emcee during HPR’s twice-yearly on-air fundraisers. With Titterton presiding, HPR fundraisers met higher financial goals for 15 straight years, and many people who had been listening for free chose to become paid members.

“We try to make them as much fun as possible,” Titterton told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in 2014. “It’s difficult to be fun for seven to 10 days, but we really try to be very inclusive. We invite in people from the community, to a degree. It doesn’t happen around the country the way we do it.”

Titterton retired in 2016. That same year, he received the Alfred Preis Award from the Hawai‘i Arts Alliance for his commitment to the arts and education in Hawaii.

Titterton is survived by his wife, Madeleine McKay, and his brother, Ian Titterton of Portland, Ore.

Funeral plans are pending.