It’s not quite the Odyssey, but it’s still a worthy endeavor
CBS News Radio’s Peter King and his partner-in-crime, brother Rick Sommers, are working on a book about Ithaca radio. That’s Ithaca in New York not ancient Greece.
Why Ithaca? Peter and Rick got their radio starts in Ithaca and spent time in several local stations. Rick too is a veteran broadcaster.
And if they are not worthy, they point to a cast of famous players passing over the Ithacan airwaves through the years: Bill Diehl, Bob Kur, Bettina Gregory, Pam Coulter, Keith Olbermann, Peter Schacknow, Dave Price and closest thing radio has to the comic genius of Aristophanes, The Greaseman. Okay, maybe that last part was a little over-the-top. Beware of Greasemen bearing gifts.
As Greece was the incubator for democracy, so Ithaca, as Peter describes it, is a “wonderful incubator for talent.”
So in due gratitude they wish to sing the praises of Ithacan radio. Lacking a lyre and chorus or the patience to compose an epic poem, they’ll do the next best thing and and write an “Ithaca Radio” edition for Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series. The series has earned the encomiums of radio broadcasters by publishing a number of books that showcased, among other things, the broadcast radio history of select cities and stations.
So the call is out for volunteers in this noble crusade. Stories, pictures, memorabilia, freebies, promo items, stickers, giveaways, ads, art, newspaper and magazine articles, tapes, records … anything with the keywords Ithaca AND radio are wanted. The items can be returned.
The authors can be contacted here.
