Paul Harvey (1918-2009)

Having spent a decade in Oklahoma managing public broadcasting stations and teaching, I had the good fortune of meeting several Oklahomans who’ve left a big footprint in the media business.

From Jim Hartz and Betty Boyd to Harry Heath and Bob Allen. Of course, there are many other media folk, including the Gaylord family, who’ve left their mark on the Oklahoma plains and hills.

None, however, enjoyed the recognition, popularity, and notoriety of the late Tulsa native Paul Harvey Aurandt. Known to millions across America and the world simply as Paul Harvey, his daily broadcasts on ABC began 1951 and continued into the 21st century, although he’d stepped aside from the daily chores in 2008. Harvey died February 28th in Phoenix, Arizona. He was 90 years old.

I never considered Paul Harvey a newsman. There was a time I even had a certain disdain for his daily newscasts on ABC Radio. I felt he was a good actor (having done some film work) with a great radio delivery.

After my first couple of decades in broadcasting, including teaching broadcast journalism at Oklahoma State University, I began to at least appreciate the fact that Paul Harvey labeled his broadcast as “News and Comment.” If only we could persuade many new-generation newscasters to do the same.

By the 1990s, I was more comfortable with Paul Harvey as I gained an appreciation for his adherence to what I suppose we today call “traditional values.” Marriages that last. People who work hard. Respect for our elders. Admiration for those who sacrifice their lives for others. What once seemed a bit hokey to me began to make more sense.

Like his musical contemporary from the Dakotas – Lawrence Welk – Harvey was a target of some condescending ridicule for “down home” mannerisms. Both Welk and Harvey, however, parlayed their talents into highly successful careers that have touched millions of lives.

Read an excellent piece about the life of Paul Harvey in this Time story.

Below is a short WGN-Chicago tribute to Paul Harvey.

Remembering Freeman Hover

Long-time friend and mentor Freeman Hover passed last Monday (2/9/09) away in Tucson, Arizona. He was 79. A Memorial Mass will be held at noon on Monday, March 1, 2009, at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Tucson, Arizona. That's the day Freeman would have turned 80 years old.

A warm and personable man, he was both a broadcaster and educator, professions that he pursued with great enthusiasm and commitment.

We first met "Free" in 1957, not long after he started his radio career at KCSR in Chadron, Nebraska, just a year or so before I began working at the same station. A native of Plymouth, Michigan, Freeman Hover earned a bachelor of arts degree at the University of Denver in 1951. By the mid-1950s, he was pursuing his first broadcast job at KCSR in Chadron.

As was true for most radio folk in small market stations, Freeman Hover did it all. He was News Director at KCSR, but he had a wide range of interests in broadcasting -- one of them was "Top 40" music. He hosted "Club 949" (the station's Post Office box number) and "Top 40 Time." He became well known throughout the region, but decided to pursue opportunities elsewhere when the station was sold in 1959 to Huse Publishing out of Norfolk, Nebraska.

After a short stint in North Dakota, Hover headed toward the desert southwest and a job with the Doubleday station in Phoenix. Having earned a Master's degree from the University of Colorado, he turned his attention to education and became a classroom teacher. He eventually settled in Tucson. By all accounts, he was a top flight teacher, and he eventually won a spot in the Arizona Journalism Hall of Fame.

We have fond memories of visiting Freeman in Tucson in the late 1980s and again in the 1990s while attending public broadcasting meetings there. His love for history and the southwest was obvious, as was his pride for having been involved in the "rock and roll" era. While at KCSR, he had conducted a rare interview with the legendary Buddy Holly and a number of other popular artists of the time, including Eddie Cochran and Jimmy Bowen.

We remember Freeman as a kind and generous individual, and he certainly was an inspiration to me and many aspiring broadcasters and journalists who had the good fortune to cross paths with him.

You'll find a full obituary for Freeman Hover in the Arizona Daily Star.

Below is a short video tribute to Freeman, recognizing his time with KCSR in Chadron, Nebraska, where he left a legacy of many friends......and even more memories.

Biker Bill changes media

We were pleasantly surprised to be able to catch up with an old broadcasting friend the other day.

Bill Campbell and his wife Katherine Ann changed ZIP codes last year, moving from Montana to northern California. A veteran broadcaster from West Virginia, Bill and I first crossed paths about 25 years ago when Bill was managing a station in the Idaho Public Television network, and I was with South Dakota Public Broadcasting. I've followed his career with great interest as he took over the public TV station in Medford, Oregon, where he retired a few years back.

His move to Montana soon found Bill bicycling more and becoming heavily involved in Rotary, ending his stint as District Governor just last year. It was during their Montana residency that Bill biked from White Sulphur Springs, Montana, to Chicago, Illinois. Karen and I met him in Bowman, North Dakota for a short visit with a side trip to Medora for dinner. Some months later, Bill and I biked the 109-mile Mickelson Trail through the Black Hills of South Dakota. We had great fun, and it certainly gave this old soul a bunch of fond memories!

The photo at right was taken in October 2006 at the outset of our trek from Deadwood to Edgemont. "Biker Bill" is on the left. My bride, Karen, hauled us to the starting line and provided some much-appreciated trail support when we ran in to difficulty near Hill City.....but that's another story!

A note this holiday season from Bill and Katherine Ann Campbell told of their move to northern California, and one of Bill's latest pursuits: newspaper columnist! Although it's a rarity in these tough days for newspapers, the Inter Mountain News posts all of its old issues on the web, and they're accessible for free! Thus, I've been able to catch up on Bill's activities. The column is not simply a bicycling column, but a chronicle of many items of interest in the "Inter Mountain" region of northern California.

I check up on Bill from time to time by visiting the The Inter Mountain News website and clicking on the front page image. Scroll down to find the "Biker Bill" column. It's a good read!

Remembering Whitmore....and Truman!

Actor James Whitmore died Friday (2/6/09) at his Malibu, California home. He was 87.

We’ve written about Whitmore a couple of times over the past two years – admiring his unbridled enthusiasm and his seemingly boundless talents on stage and in television and film. I’ll never forget seeing his wonderful performance at the Oklahoma State University Seretean Center in the 1970s. I described that event in this 2007 posting.

As I started poring through the wealth of materials now available on-line about Whitmore, I came across one video in particular that caught my attention. It was not just Whitmore, but his 1975 characterization of President Harry S. Truman that caught my attention.

It allowed me to remember the plain-spoken style of “Give ‘em Hell Harry.” And while I anticipated a pleasant trip down memory lane as I watched the video – enjoying the dramatic skills of James Whitmore and appreciating the outspoken style of President Truman – I wasn’t prepared for the relevancy of his message.

Although uttered more than a half century ago during the 1946 rail strike, the words attributed to Truman about the economy and the role of so-called “expert” economists still ring true. It’s enough to cause a bit of a chuckle……quickly followed by the realization that Harry probably had it right.

Take a moment to admire the talent of Whitmore……and the wisdom of Truman!

High tech surprise

Kicking around the broadcast business for more than 50 years, I’ve worked closely with lots of broadcast engineers who were also amateur radio operators. After I got my "ham" license in about 1960 (WAØBDN), I started dabbling in this hobby that I continue to enjoy to this day – despite the fact that I’m probably the world’s least active operator!

Among the hams that I’ve known and learned from – Leo Henen (WØFLO), Frank Allen (WØGGP), Tony Cashon (KØOAL), Lynn Bilyeu (KØODF), Joe Makeever (W5HS), Dan Schroeder (K5FVL), and many others. Some of them are "Silent Keys." I keep hoping to become more active in this fascinating hobby (as I intended upon retirement), but there are just too many other activities that I want to pursue as well!

I admire the creativity that many of my ham friends bring to the hobby. A few of them – and their numbers are dwindling with a change in FCC rules and the passage of time – are superb CW aficionados. Continuous Wave (CW) is the mode by which many hams still use Morse Code for sending messages.

And if you think this is a fuddy-duddy technology that has been left in the dust by "high tech" applications like texting, take a look at this segment from on old Jay Leno Tonight show.

Banned on KCSR

As far back as I can remember, I've been a big fan of Art Carney, the celebrated actor who portrayed Ed Norton in the Jackie Gleason Honeymooners television series.

~

Carney has been dead some 15 years, having died in 1993 at the age of 85. But many of us well remember his infectuous dialogue as Norton, the "underground sanitation expert," and some of us even remember his career as a singer.

Singer?

Well, his recording Song of the Sewer was popular, but it just never quite made it big in northwest Nebraska. It's one of the few songs ever banned from KCSR Radio in Chadron. I do remember hearing the song on the station in the mid-to-late 1950s, but I also vividly recall it's being "banned" some time later.

Not a great piece of music, perhaps, but it was a snappy bit of satire that only Norton could pull off. What was all the fuss? Well, judge for yourself. Quite by accident, while surfing the web, I came across this version of Song of the Sewer.



Carney apparently professed to be nothing like Norton. I remember reading that Carney was wounded at Normandy during World War II and walked with a limp for the rest of his life. Like so many from that war, he came home and got on with his life -- and what a life it was!

Whatever happened to Dave Scherling?

Earlier this week, I was foraging through old newspapers in search of information about the first dial telephone system in Dawes County Nebraska. Like the first moving picture theatre in the county, it was located in Whitney, and I was looking for information that I could add to our Whitney Reflections website.

Unable to find the information I was looking for, I scrolled ahead and happened across the article shown here. It reported the May 6, 1954 sign-on of KCSR, the 250-watt radio station, whose offices were at 212 Bordeaux in Chadron.

It was fun reading the article. I remember all of the folks mentioned in the story, and I pretty much know where most of them went when they left Chadron -- except for announcer Dave Scherling.

Bob Fouse returned to Colorado, where he died many years ago. Bill Finch eventually went back to Colorado (Colorado Springs, I believe) and also hosted a big band program for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. I suspect he may have passed from our earth by now, but I don't know that for a fact. Ted Turpin ended up in Arizona, retired from the newspaper business, and is still there, as far as I know. Sherry Girmann married and moved, I believe, to Colorado.

So whatever happened to Dave Scherling? To be continued...

Congratulations, JT!

Congratulations are in order – again – for our good friend Jim Thompson, who received recognition this week (12/11/08) at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. Jim was tapped for the John Justin Standard of the West Committeeman of the Year award, recognizing his volunteer service over the years to the Deke Latham Rodeo in Kaycee, Wyoming.

Jim is a highly-talented broadcaster, whose skills transcend the rodeo arena public address system. Selected three times by his peers as South Dakota Sportscaster of the Year, Jim has also won accolades as a member of the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame and the Black Hills Stock Show Hall of Fame.

Jim and I met some three years ago, after a mutual friend – Dean Sorenson – hooked us up. Karen and I had retired to Spearfish in 2004. Over breakfast, Jim and I discovered some things we had in common – we’d both worked for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service while in the service, and we also worked for the same boss, Bob Thomas, in Nebraska. Now retired and living in Arizona, “BT” was the long-time General Manager of the “Beef Empire Stations” across Nebraska and Colorado. Jim worked for KVSH in Valentine, Nebraska, and I was on the staff at KCSR in Chadron.

Our love of broadcasting and journalism – as well as a shared interest in things “Dakota” – often brings Jim and I together at weekly coffee sessions in Spearfish with other like-minded folks. Retired newspaper publisher Curt Moberg from Sundance, Wyoming, retired Iowa State journalism prof Bill Kunerth from Belle Fourche, and writer Lorraine Collins of Spearfish, among others, often congregate to discuss the media and current events.

Occasionally, Jim asks me to substitute for him on his weekday regional radio program Live with Jim Thompson. Despite rusty pipes and a propensity for pushing the wrong buttons on the control board, I enjoy these opportunities, and I’m pleased that Jim asks me to do it.

It also gives me an opportunity to see the “working side” of Jim Thompson. He’s every bit as affable off the air as he is in front of a live microphone. His two terms in the South Dakota legislature helped nurture Jim’s political acumen, and he doesn’t suffer fools lightly. But I also find him courteous to a fault.

Like his awards, Jim’s interests are many and varied. We're delighted to see that he's added another well deserved recognition to his achievements. Congratulations, JT!

A mentor to many -- Grant Price

One day in 1969, I hopped aboard a Cessna Queen-Air plane in Shenandoah, Iowa for a day-trip to Cedar Rapids.

Also aboard the craft was my boss, Norm Williams, the General Manager of KMA, which was owned by the May Broadcasting Company. In those days, May Broadcasting was comprised of KGUN-TV in Tucson, KMTV in Omaha, plus substantial ownership of KFAB in Omaha. I believe they also had a station in Wisconsin.

I’m not sure what Norm’s agenda was for that trip, but I know I was looking forward to visiting with Grant Price and the folks in the newsroom at WMT radio and television. We would also drive to Oelwein to visit the news operation overseen by Dick Petrik. I had recently joined KMA as News Director and was anxious to learn what I could from those veteran broadcasters.

Both KOEL in Oelwein, under Dick Petrik, and WMT in Cedar Rapids, led by Grant Price, had first-class news operations.So I was saddened to learn about the passing of Grant Price last week (10/17) in Waterloo, Iowa. He was 85 years old and had been one of the best-known broadcasters in the state before stepping away from the microphone in 1989 to go to work for Wartburg College.

Occasionally in recent years, I’ve chatted with veteran sports broadcaster Bryan Lessly here in Spearfish, SD; Bryan once worked in the WMT shop.  We'd visit about our Iowa experiences – and Grant Price almost always comes up in the conversation. I can think of few Iowa news broadcasters, save Jack Shelley, who’ve left any larger legacy than Grant Price. Okay, “Dutch” Reagan would be an exception. In any event, WMT became a news powerhouse under the auspices of Grant Price.
 

I remember the warm hospitality and generosity extended to me by Grant and his staff nearly 40 years ago – and it’s easy to understand why this talented and exceptional person was so highly regarded by so many as a good boss, a learned mentor, and a good friend.

Legendary musician Neal Hefti dies

Native Nebraskan Neal Hefti has died. Born in Hastings in 1922, Hefti won fame as an arranger for a wide variety of big bands during the 1940s and 50s, including Charlie Spivak, Woody Herman, Charlie Barnet and Harry James. He died Saturday (Oct. 11) at his home in Toluca Park, California.

An accomplished trumpet player, it was really Hefti’s composing and arranging that won him the adoration and respect of top-flight musicians ranging from Frank Sinatra to Count Basie. He was also a conductor and worked with the likes of Doris Day, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, and Sinatra.

Without a clue to his roots, I remember playing a lot of Neal Hefti recordings on KCSR in Chadron, Nebraska in the 1950s. I often wondered if Neal was related to Paul Hefti, a Chadron banker – not an altogether wild assumption, since Hefti is a rather unusual name, and they both had Nebraska roots. I never found out. (NOTE: Paul Hefti's son, Marvin, responds that he does not believe Neil Hefti and Paul Hefti were closely related, if at all - 11/1/08)

Neal Hefti’s name graced a bevy of big band, standards, and jazz albums in those years. But probably his most popular works were the theme songs for the hit television series "The Odd Couple" and "Batman."

My favorite Hefti composition was a lumbering jazz ditty entitled Li'l Darlin’.

Neal Hefti was 85 years old.

Austin City Limits

In 1973, Karen and I left the cozy environment of Oklahoma State University, where I’d been teaching broadcast news courses and serving as News Director for KOSU, the public radio station licensed to the university.

Our destination was Austin, Texas, about which we knew…….nothing. It was the capitol city, and the University of Texas was located there. Beyond that, I suspect we might have perceived that “Hook ‘em Horns” was an obscene gesture. I was reminded of our stint in Austin when I read about my friend Terry Lickona winning the Lifetime Achievement Award last week in Nashville at the Americana Music Association awards gathering.

My official job title in Austin was Director of News and Public Affairs for the University of Texas Communications Center; in broadcasting parlance, I was the News Director for KLRN-TV and KUT-FM. In those days, KLRN was licensed to the Southwest Texas Public Broadcasting Council and served both San Antonio and Austin from a transmitter near New Braunfels. Although KLRN had studios in San Antonio, the station was headquartered in Austin. Within months after my arrival, KLRN-TV and KUT-FM moved from the old Chemistry building at UT to a brand spankin’ new facility on Guadalupe Street, shown at left some 30 years after I was there, but apparently still holding up fairly well.

Our leader in those days was Bob Schenkkan, whose early contributions to public television are pretty well documented. Bob did a lot of traveling in the 1970s, and I seldom saw or visited with him. Day-to-day operations were left to Station Manager Harvey Herbst, with whom I got along just fine. Harvey was not a favorite with many at KLRN/KUT, but I always found him fair and supportive.

Perhaps in another posting I can share stories about the many colorful and talented people I came to know in Austin, including Cactus Pryor, Cyndi Allen, Larry White, Tom Dvorak, Dick Rizzo, Bink Williams, Bob Buckalew, Bruce Scafe, and Charles Akins, among others. This posting focuses upon the Austin environment – particularly the sounds that were captured as a part of Austin City Limits.

First, Karen and I were taken by the beauty of the Austin area. The lakes and nearby “Hill Country” afforded two Nebraska kids an opportunity to see aspects of the Lone Star state of which we were unaware. Great restaurants were plentiful. Zilker Park was gorgeous. And then there’s the music.

Karen and I occasionally joined friends in weekend forays to downtown Austin to take in the live performances of a wide array of musicians. To this day, I don’t recall the names of the places or artists, but I do remember that Austin was rich with a diversity of talented country musicians.

Paul Bosner, Bruce Scafe, and Billy Arhos were the KLRN colleagues who had an big itch for producing a live country and western music program. And they made it happen.

While I was responsible for producing and anchoring a nightly 30-minute news and public affairs program in one of our fourth floor studios, Austin City Limits was produced in one of the two massive 6th floor studios. The other 6th floor studio was reserved for production of a children’s bi-lingual program called Carrascolendas, which had been the recipient of major federal grants obtained under the leadership of Ida Barrera.

One of my most vivid recollections of Austin City Limits had to do with riding the elevators after musicians had just gone up to their studio. I always thought that the sweet aroma left behind in the elevator was a new blend of pipe tobacco; I think one of the news staff suggested that perhaps I’d never smelled quafts of marijuana. I couldn’t be absolutely certain, of course, but the story would be consistent with what I knew about many of the musicians. While I know that Paul, Billy and others had high hopes for Austin City Limits, few of us felt it would achieve the success that had been enjoyed by Carrascolendas. Little did we know that it would become a staple performance broadcast for PBS and retain a strong following around the nation three decades after it was launched!

By late 1974, we were expanding our News and Public Affairs staff, and I hired a “walk-on” candidate from New York named Terry Lickona. I thought he could help us breathe life into the rather stagnant public affairs programming on KUT-FM. Terry was a thoughtful, low-key, but thorough producer with an excellent on-air radio presence. He did a fine job. But I was surprised a few months later when he approached me about moving into television. There were some sticky personnel issues that made him uncomfortable, and he wanted out of radio. We made the switch, and Terry became a regular part of our Newsroom Nine evening television broadcast.

In the mid-1970s, we decided to examine key current issues through a different format. It was a live courtroom-style television program based upon an old WGBH Boston series called The Advocates. Local Austin Judge Mary Pearl Williams was moderator. Our first program – and I don’t remember others – was a real challenge. One of our “advocates” was the fiery Mayor of Austin, Jeff Friedman. Minutes before the program was to go live, Friedman contested the ground rules for the program and threatened to walk out. Terry interceded. My recollection is that – with the help of Mary Pearl Williams – the program was saved.

Within two years after Karen and I left Austin, Terry became a part of the Austin City Limits staff, and eventually took over as Producer, a role he has held ever since. ACL holds something of a record in American television as the longest-running musical performance program series, and Terry Lickona has produced over 800 of those programs.

Terry and I have crossed paths a few times over the years. In the late 1990s, I invited him to Jackson, Mississippi for a visit. I was Executive Director for the statewide public broadcasting network and was interested in our producing a pilot performance program on the Blues, which had its birth in the Mississippi delta. Terry had the experience with ACL and could have given this initiative a real boost. My enthusiasm for the project was not shared by some of my senior managers, so the project never got launched. I still think we missed a real opportunity, and I regret that I didn’t push harder to make it happen.

I’ve enjoyed watching Terry Lickona’s career blossom. During the few years I worked with Terry in Austin, I gained a real appreciation for his professionalism, and I’ve been not at all surprised by his success. Congratulations, Terry, on the Lifetime Achievement Award with the AMA. Well done!

Jack McBride (1926-2008)

One of the great broadcasters of our time has passed away. Jack McBride, the gentle man from Lincoln, died on Monday, July 28th. He was largely responsible for envisioning and building the statewide public radio and television network in Nebraska, but he was also a recognized pioneer and leader in public broadcasting across the country and around the world.

It was my great pleasure to have known and worked with Jack a bit, largely through our dealings in an organization known as the Organization of State Broadcast Executives.

Jack’s commitment to the educational value of television was solid. From the early days of what is now known as Nebraska Educational Telecommunications, until long after his “retirement” in 1996. Jack McBride remained a visionary about what television and other emerging technologies could do to enhance learning. Steve Behrens wrote this obituary in Current, a public broadcasting newspaper.

And he had a sense of humor. I still remember receiving my commission as an “Admiral” in the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska during a public broadcasting meeting in Lincoln many years ago. The “recruiter” for our hitch in the land-locked Navy was Jack McBride.

Viewers and listeners of the public radio and television networks in Nebraska saw and heard little of this energetic fellow, but his legacy to all Nebraskans – and to public broadcasting across the country – was huge.

May there be "fair winds and following seas” for our friend Jack McBride.