Seattle Broadcasters' Lunch

Special thanks to Bill Wippel for the invite to last week's Broadcasters' Lunch in Seattle. I've been to a few of these events in the past and always enjoyed myself. Bill performs a much-appreciated service in making the arrangements and getting the word out.

I was fortunate enough to sit next to Don Riggs, who shared some great stories about KFKF, KBES and KOL (which became KMPS the day Don started a 33-year career there in 1975), and about his friend and former colleague, the late Phil Harper.

As the lunch took place a few days after the passing of Harry Wappler, many former colleagues and old friends shared memories of the popular KIRO meteorologist (who was always nice to me when I was first a lowly intern and then a lowly part-timer at KIRO-AM in the early 1990s).

Broadcasters' Lunch Attendees in Photo (photo courtesy Bill Wippel):

First Row (L-R): Esther Druxman, Todd Bitts, Cliff Murphy, Dick Paetzke, Glenn Williams. Second Row: Chris Wedes, Dick Cross, Bob Adkins, Don Riggs, Bill Wippel, David Lee, Andy Gronning. Third Row: Gary Engard, George Toles, Dean Smith, Larry Rice, Dave Severence. Fourth Row: Larry Lomax, Paul Bishop, Duane Smart, Jim Dai, Tom Henning. Not shown: Jack Allen, Vic Bremer, Les Metrovick, and Jack Morton.

On The Radio: Baseball and FDR

Here are two quick bits about recent radio and radio-related projects:

Seattle NPR affiliate KUOW 94.9 FM is today airing a story I produced for them as part of their very cool initiative, the Program Venture Fund.

The story is the first of a history series, and is a look back at the Seattle Pilots and their one and only Major League Baseball season here in 1969. Audio and more information is available here.

Also today, Crosscut.com published a piece I prepared about the "Radio President" and how FDR's death affected Seattle.

Death of the Radio President

This Monday, April 12 is the 65th anniversary of the death of "Radio President" Franklin Delano Roosevelt. To mark the occasion, I was invited by Charlie Harger to appear on Beyond the Headlines, a weekly public affairs program on Seattle's KOMO Radio.

We played clips from speeches, Fireside Chats and campaign broadcasts, as well as radio coverage of FDR's death. A full recording of the program is available via this link.