BSO

BSO

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Radio Friends


Some old pics.

This morning I was in Amherst and I took a little walk around the beautifully tranquil campus of Amherst College. That tranquility won't last - Spring Break ends today and it's classes as usual tomorrow.





I went over by the majestic statue of poet Robert Frost. It was erected at a spot where he himself, a teacher at Amherst for many years, was known to sit in quiet contemplation.





What a peaceful place to spend a few moments on Easter morn. Continuing my walk, I came upon this bumper sticker.





At long last my cold is completely gone! No more coughing and sneezing!





Unfortunately, I'm not quite as happy as I appear to be in this photo taken of me by my mother when I was two years old. Dig the dirty blond hair!





It eventually became dark brown, as it is in this photo of me and my mother in 2002 during her last summer alive. 





Now it is growing lighter again, but the shift is to grey, not blonde.

If you wonder why I'm putting up all these old pictures, it is because I've sifting through some more of my archives, and came across some good ones. I'll show you them over the coming days, trying to at least vaguely organize them by theme. These pictures are taken at radio stations I've been involved with over the years.

The longest association I ever had with any radio station was WAIC in Springfield. Here is Tony Gill (right) of The Tony Gill Show relaxing with prominent local attorney Marshall Moriarty in the WAIC studios. 





Marshall Moriarty is a prominent Republican activist, and was heavily involved with the unsuccessful 2001 City Council campaign of Charles Rucks. 





A frequent guest at WAIC was former Springfield Mayor Charles V. Ryan.





Republican activist Mike Franco is shown here all decked out in red, white and blue.





Here's a motley crew: Franco, former City Limits publisher Jordan Williams, local historian Greg Metzadakis and me in 2004.





I also spent a lot of time at WHYN in downtown Springfield. Here a repairman cools his heels in the lobby in the year 2000. 





One day when I was guest hosting The Reporter's Roundtable in 1998 I had as my guests super-activists Bob and Karen Powell. The table full of coffee cups was common, as the world of radio is full of caffeine junkies. 





Also a guest that morning in '98 was Maureen Turner of the Valley Advocate, shown here perusing one of the last print issues of The Baystate Objectivist





In 2003 former Springfield City Councilor Mitch Ogulewicz had a gig at WARE, where I used to be a guest from time to time. 





Oh well, that's all for now. Conspicuous in their absence are any photos from the Dan Yorke Show era. I have some videos somewhere, and when I come upon them be assured you will see them.

Easter is a time of rebirth, and this Easter certainly is. I'm reborn in a sense, now free of all my crippling addictions. My brother John was also liberated this year from the terrible illness that threatened to take his life. Here's a recent picture of him and his wife Connie, and you can see he finally has hair! Thanks again to all who helped in deed, thoughts and prayers. Words cannot describe my family's gratitude to you all!



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Considering his loud opinion on homosexuality, I am surprised that you continue to seemingly support Mike Franco. The man is a loose cannon and does a disservice to the Republican Party. He hasn't earned the credibility you and others seem to give him. You'd think after so many runs for office, he might change how he campaigns, but he keeps doing the same thing every time and expecting a different result. And you know what condition for which that is the definition.

Tom said...

People don't have to share the same political views as me to be my friend. I also feel he is sometimes a victim of censorship, and anything surpressed I want to put a spotlight on, regardless of whether I agree with it. Being a voice for the voiceless has always been a part of what I'm about.

Frankly, the Democrats Franco has run against are so bad I've never had any problem supporting him for office.