In these letters to the editor, readers respond to our call to action to share photos that capture the allure of radio. Comment on this or any article. Email [email protected]
What a view
I loved that great picture “The Nighttime Beckons” taken by Mike Pappas. You asked for pictures so here’s mine.
I’m Dick Pust, a semi-retired broadcaster, who spent 50 years working in the building shown here. When KGY moved into its new studios at the southern tip of Budd Inlet in Olympia, Wash., I was the receptionist; when I left in 2011, I was the general manager.
During those years visitors would ask how the staff could get any work done in such a beautiful place, with its spectacular view of lower Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. My sales manager Darlene Kemery took this picture in the spring of 2010. The photo is prominently displayed in my book “AM1240 Life at a Small Town Radio Station,” available on Amazon.
Sadly the Port of Olympia, which owns the property, has indicated it may not renew the station’s lease when it expires in a couple of years. A movement is underway by the local historical society to save the building and have it placed on the Olympia Heritage Register.
— Dick Pust, Host of “Your Community” at KXXO(FM), Olympia, Wash.
A haunting effect
Thanks for the evening tower photograph by Mike Pappas. Here is a scan of a Polaroid picture I took one night in 1963 when I was working as a transmitter engineer at WCOJ(AM) in Coatesville, Pa. The picture is a 30-second time lapse exposure, with the moon behind moving clouds.
WCOJ, 1420 kHz 5 kW DA-N was a commercial station owned by Chester County Broadcasting Co. Daytime non-directional operation was remote-controlled from the studio.
The rules at the time required a licensed First Class engineer to be on duty at the transmitter during nighttime operation with a four-tower array. It was my first commercial radio job after college.
— Xen Scott
Radio to make people happy
Here is a picture of my home studio setup. It’s functional, yet simple and elegant.
I’m a 44-year veteran of U.S. commercial radio, now retired. Since the pandemic, I try to make people happy by providing personality music radio, a dying art. I broadcast live to eight radio stations in three countries. I also do Facebook Live during my broadcasts and ask listeners if they want to come on the air and chat. If a listener responds, I call them! I think I’m the only person in the world who actually calls their listeners via FB Messenger. Now all I do is make people happy on “1995 Happy AM”!
— Wayne Tropp, Charleston, S.C.
The farmer’s wife does her shift
We are “Tri-State Praise KGCR 107.7fm” in Brewster in northwest Kansas. The station, shown here, is on the corner of a wheat field. Sometimes it is corn and sometimes there are cows in the back.
One of our announcers is the wife of a farmer. She drove the combine to work one afternoon because she was helping cut the wheat during harvest. This picture is a perfect example of our community!
— Tiffany Martin, Station Manager, Tri-State Praise KGCR 107.7fm, Brewster, Kan.
