My love for broadcast radio began when I was growing up in Chicagoland. One of my favorite radio hosts was Harry Porterfield, who did a regular feature about people in the city. This short segment stayed with me as I grew up and, after realizing a career in live theater was not my calling, I studied broadcasting at Indiana University in the mid-60s. While in college, I was an integral part of the I.U. Student Radio Network. Those were the days of spinning records live and reading the news and lists of where to attend protest rallies. My favorite disc at the time was the extended version of “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly because it ran about 10 minutes. This allowed me enough time to get to the bathroom and back or to take a quick nap. I played that tune at least once every two hours!

 

After college, my radio career was put on hold because I had to report for military duty. While serving in Vietnam, I set up a “pirate” radio station in my battalion to play music, deliver the news and read letters from the troops. If this sounds familiar, it’s because I was doing what Adrian Cronauer did, only Cronauer was immortalized in the movie “Good Morning, Vietnam” starring Robin Williams.

 

Upon returning home, my broadcasting dreams took a backseat to a career in the women’s fashion retail arena, which was my family‘s business. That was until I retired and moved to Frisco, Texas, to be close to my grandson. Here I met Mark Wariner, the station owner and producer of KVGI radio which is now RAVN Radio. I approached Wariner to offer my services to write and record commercials; instead, Wariner, hearing my baritone voice, asked if I would be interested in hosting my own program.