When the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame inducts its 2014 class, Bill Ruck will carry the flag for techies.
Ruck is among a group named to the ninth Hall of Fame class, announced recently at a Radio Day by the Bay event in Alameda, Calif. He is principal radio engineer at CSI Telecommunications Inc. and a freelance broadcast engineer. He has worked for or with a number of Bay Area broadcast organizations and been involved with the Northern California Frequency Coordinating Committee, AES, IEEE, SBE and EIBASS.
For the Maritime Radio Historical Society he has maintained historic radio equipment at former RCA Coastal Marine Station KPH, now part of Point Reyes National Seashore. (He’s shown here in a photo from the historical society’s website.)
According to a bio posted by the Point Reyes National Seashore Association, Ruck is a third-generation native San Franciscan who has been a radio enthusiast since he was young and heard his father’s stories of being a radio mechanic for the Army, servicing radios on Liberty and Victory ships during World War II.
“Bill was an aviation electronics technician in the Navy during the Vietnam War and spent the next 20 years working as an engineer for local San Francisco radio stations KFOG-KNBR. … Recently he was named ‘Fellow for Historic Preservation’ by the California Historical Radio Society for his work on the KPH Project,” the site said. He’s also said to be a fan of restoring antique motorcycles. (Ed. Note, Ruck wrote us after this story was posted: The motorcycle collection is a 1973 BMW R60/5 and a 1947 Indian Chief. My wife has a ’38 Harley 45 Solo Chopper and a 1952 Indian Chief with the 80 cu. in. Bonneville motor.)
The Broadcast Legends will host an induction luncheon on Saturday, Sept. 20; the general public is welcome to attend.
This is the full Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame class:
News: Robert Lazich (KNBR) and Peter Finch (KGO)
Program Host: Sam Van Zandt (KBAY) and Celeste Perry (KOSF)
Executive: Jo Anne Wallace (KQED-FM Station Manager)
Specialty: Ed Cavagnaro (KCBS News Director)
Sports: Steve Bitker (KCBS)
Pioneer: Norman Davis (30 year veteran of Bay Area airwaves)
Engineer: Bill Ruck
Legendary station of the year honors go to KSAN – The JIVE 95 Era
