WCBS Newsradio88 Appreciation Site

2006

News and Recollections 2007
News and Recollections 2005

News, recollections, and comments from Newsradio88 staffers, ex-staffers, listeners, fans. To contribute please email: Don Swaim

- Marty Wekser, Los Angeles, 12/29/06. What a wonderful website. I spent several hours listening and reminiscing. Although I worked in radio (but not at WCBS) and curiously enough worked for Columbia Records at 51 W. 52nd St. I was always a listener to NewsRadio 88 when I lived in New York. A very good friend of mine, Mitch Lebe, did work as an anchor at WCBS for many years and when I would return from L.A. to visit (after having made the move to California in 1974), I would often come up to the studio and sit in with him during his air shift. Thanks for providing all the interesting features and the jingles in wonderful audio quality. Best, Marty Wekser

- Steve Porter (former WCBS anchor) 12/26/06. Lou Adler and I, with Joe Dembo in attendance, were invited to address Dr. Stanton, Bill Paley and John Schneider a few weeks before we launched WCBS Newsradio in 1967. We stood before them in their private conference room on the thirty-something floor of Black Rock... MORE...

Paley, left, Stanton, right

- DR. FRANK STANTON DEAD AT 98, 12/25/06. Obituary by Holcomb B. Noble in The New York Times. Audio memoirs of Frank Stanton, hosted by Mike Wallace (2003). Go to Minnesota Public Radio.

- David Briggman, Keezletown, Virginia, 12/22/06. I'm 43 and I've been a fan of AM radio, especially WCBS, WTOP, et al., since I was growing up in Washington...WTOP was my radio station there since I was about 8 when other kids were listening to music. OK...I'm a geek. MORE...

- Don Swaim, 12/21/06. Thanks to space buff Tom McKeever in New Jersey we were able to post nearly three hours of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster coverage as heard on WCBS on January 28, 1986. What was missing, however, was the late Christopher Glenn's actual description of the explosion. Oddly, Tom was able to obtain this coverage from a source who acquired it via WCCO, Minneapolis-St. Paul -- and it's NOW online. Truly gripping stuff. Go to the WCBS Audio Page.

Challenger disaster as described by Christopher Glenn

- Dan Hanley (former desk assistant), 12/21/06. Hi Don, What a great site you have, really interesting.Wanted to say hello, I knew you back in 1968 when I worked as a desk assistant for wcbs newsradio 88 in NY while I was attending college.. Was a great place to work -- MORE...

- Mike Ludlum (former WCBS News Director) 12/6/06. I listened to the Jack Sterling mp3 audio piece on Sunday. Really enjoyed it. Very good quality. When I started at WCBS in 1964, Sterling was on. I worked morning drive writing for Ken Banghart who did the news for Jack. Ken never wrote anything but he was a fabulous editor. Larry Solow was the engineer and he was such a good board engineer...and clever...Sterling made him a producer as well as engineer. After Sterling was let go since ratings had tanked...Super Summerall took over and, not long after, the all-news format started. The number of techicians required when we were fulltime all-news...was 43. Just for the AM. Mike.

- DAVE MARASH COVERAGE OF 1972 MUNICH SUMMER OLYMPICS MASSACRE POSTED. On September 5, 1972, Dave was a staff reporter at WCBS, dispatched to Munich to cover the Olympics for CBS Radio News. After sixteen years with ABC's Nightline, Dave, improbably, is now with the Al Jazerra cable network in Washington. Go to the WCBS Audio Page.

- Don Swaim, 12/3/06. The CBS "Board" meeting on December 2 in Teaneck, NJ, hosted by Bob Gibson, may have had the best turnout ever. More than forty people shared good times, old times. Let's thank Bob for keeping the WCBS fraternity alive. Those who have historic WCBS audio somewhere in your attics/basements please send to me. To see pictures from this and other luncheons click here.

THREE LIVING NEW YORK BROADCAST LEGENDS
Election night, Sheraton Hotel, New York, 11/7/06

Rich Lamb, WCBS; Stan Brooks, WINS; Mitch Lebe, Bloomberg Radio (ex-WCBS)
Combined broadcasting experience: 110 years (est.)
Photo courtesy Mitch Lebe, Bob Gibson

- MARY GAY TAYLOR MEMORIAL SERVICE. A tribute to the late WCBS Reporter was held Nov. 29, 2006, at New York City Hall. Among the highlights: a touching tribute by WCBS Reorter Rich Lamb, a collection of funny anecdotes by WCBS Reporter Irene Cornell, and an appreciation by the doctor who treated Mary Gay for her fatal breast cancer. Audio of the servce is posted here in two parts go to the WCBS Audio Page.

- Don Swaim, 11/27/06. ED BRADLEY AND ME. With all the coverage of Ed Bradley's death, I have two tales to add. They date to the late 60s, early 70s, after Ed joined WCBS from Philadelphia as a staff reporter. MORE...

- Patricia Sterling 11/22/06. My cousin Edna sent me a link to your WCBS Newsradio 88 Appreciation Site. I'm Patricia, Jack Sterling's eldest daughter, and I just sent the link to all my sisters. Thank you so much for creating this wonderful history of my father's life and career. With kind regards and best wishes for a joyful Thanksgiving - Pat

- Tammy L. Redl, Phoenix, AZ 11/21/06. Hi, My name is Tammy Redl (maiden name, Clanton) Jack Sterling is my Great Uncle. My grandma (Elizabeth Mosley) is his sister and she is going to be 90 years old this coming march. She loved her brother very much. I am trying to put together everything I can find on Jack Sterling, I even purchased a radio show on CD. If you have any other information, like how I could get copies of "The Big Top" show, I would very much appreciate it.

- Don Swaim, 11/12/06. BILL PALEY AND ME. I had two inauspicious meetings with Mr. Paley [William S. Paley, CBS founder] after I joined WCBS in 1967. One was in person, the other by proxy. MORE...

Mr. Paley and antique microphone collection
- Julius May, Philadelphia, PA, 11/11/06. I'm just listening to part 1 of the Challenger coverage that you posted. Is it possible that you can post audio of the network coverage of the launch and the first bulletin on CBS radio network by Glenn announcing what just happened after the launch. Thanks for your site.

REPLY FROM DON: I was working in the newsroom at the time of the launch, described by Chris Glenn, who threw it back for local coverage. He wasn't on the air at the moment of the explosion, so we had to do catchup. Had he stayed on the air a minute or two longer he would have been able to report on the actual explosion live. CBS, which undergoes frequent changes of management and owners, is notorious for not preserving historic broadcasts, especially radio. The only reason I was able to post the nearly three-hour radio Challenger coverage was because a listener, Tom McKeever in New Jersey, recorded and saved it.

REPLY FROM TOM MCKEEVER: Actually over the years I've been quite surprised to hear that some networks didn't record their coverage of special events or news programs. Ironically over the years thru tape traders I've gotten some TV broadcast material of Apollo space missions. Though not much, the gentleman I got them from received them from the Nixon library. It seems that President Nixon had his staff record news material that dealt with him or his administration. Ironic that some of this material has been preserved because of a man who did not entirely like the media. But thanks to him it exists today.

- Jay Vise, Austin, Texas, 11/11/06. Hi, Saw your site listed on a submission page at fark.com. Many thanks for all the great radio memories!! This is really priceless stuff.

- Sherry Cener (Manager, CBS Radio Daytime Sales Coordination) 11/10/06. Just read on the CBS retired engineers website that Irv Elias [technician] passed away in July 2006. Remember him very fondly when I worked at WCBS 88 and we became acquainted again when he moved to Network TV and I worked in Operations. Very saddened to learn of his passing.

- FORMER WCBS REPORTER ED BRADLEY DEAD AT 65 11/9/06. Bradley joined WCBS as a reporter in 1967. In 1971 he joined the CBS News Paris Bureau. A year later, he was transferred to the Saigon Bureau, where he remained until he was assigned to CBS News Washington in June 1974. He became a correspondent for "60 Minutes" in 1980. He died at Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York, of leukemia.

- Bob Gibson (former WCBS anchor) 10/30/06. CBS "BOARD" MEETING SCHEDULED FOR DECEMBER 2, 2006. It's time to think ahead, to the next Board Meeting, which will be the first one held on a weekend! As most of you know, this issue of weekend versus weekday was put to a vote and the weekenders won. MORE...

- MARY GAY TAYLOR'S DEATH 10/21/06. This link is to the WCBS-880 Site, which also includes audio and appreciations by fellow reporters Irene Cornell and Rich Lamb. Kudos to the current WCBS Site for this post!.

FROM DON: Mary Gay and I worked together for some twenty-five years. More than a colleague, she was a friend. Mary Gay (don't ever call her Mary!) was a consummate reporter. That she could be difficult at times (ask any desk assistant) was a reflection of her intense dedication to her work. She was a skilled journalist who never cut corners and never gave an inch. This audio montage comes from sound originally posted on the current Newsradio88 website. (16:52) Mary Gay Taylor Audio Montage

- Don Swaim 10/21/06. Dave's beautiful voice, never utilized by CBS, is featured in this sensational audio piece. Dave, long time WCBS writer, voices an Edgar Allen Poe montage for Newsradio88's Book Beat in 1992. Here's Atherton's haunting rendition in full, which is gorgeous -- and the best audio interpretation of Poe I've ever heard. This is a classic, and you may want to save it to your iPod. Dave Atherton-Poe

- CBS's CHRISTOPHER GLENN'S DEATH 10/18/06. Rather unexpected since Chris had retired with much fanfare just last February with no suggestion of ill-health. He would have been inducted in the Radio Hall of Fame in November.

- Steve Scott (WCBS anchor) 10/10/06. Thank you for including the little blurb about my hiring at WCBS on your wonderful web site. As the new guy on the block, I have already spent hours pouring over your site, trying to learn as much as I can about my new radio home. MORE...

- ART HANNES LETTER SURFACES FROM THE SOUTH POLE 1947 9/30/06. Long-time WCBS listeners may remember the name and voice of Art Hannes [han-ESS), who joined CBS as a staff announcer in 1945. Art's on-air duties were various, including voicing WCBS Radio's "Music Till Dawn." This article in the Olean, New York, Times Herald, tells of a letter Art wrote while reporting on Admiral Byrd's 1947 expedition to the South Pole. Art is incorrectly described as a CBS News corresponent. Nevertheless, staff announcers in those days handled many duties. Art was a native of Olean.
- Don Swaim 9/20/06.DaRK PaRTY ReVIEW, a Boston-based online literary magazine, queries WCBS Appreciation Site editor and Ambrose Bierce Site webmaster Don Swaim about the life and disappearance of the legendary curmudgeon. Go to: FIVE QUESTIONS ABOUT: AMBROSE BIERCE
- David M. Saviet (CBS Network) 9/18/06. My wife Annette, worked as a news writer for WCBS AM in the 70's and before going on to law was also a news writer at the network. Over the years I have collected hours of tape and among my recordings are a few from WCBS AM. MORE...
- William Brown (listener, New York City) 9/17/06.It was nice to see Brian Madden's still alive and well and doing fine. Only I don't remember him on 88... MORE...
- Chris Miller (news anchor, WBT, Charlotte, NC) 9/14/06. It wasn't until I was in college down here in Charlotte, NC that I discovered WCBS through the static of my radio. MORE...
- Brian Madden (ex-WCBS anchor) 9/13/06. Hello, Don: I've just been going over your web site chronicling the days of 88. Very nice job, however....MY NAME IS MISSING!!?? MORE...
- STEVE SCOTT JOINS WCBS-AM 8/31/06. On September 11, Steve Scott will join CBS Radio's all-news WCBS-AM/New York as afternoon co-anchor along side veteran news anchor Wayne Cabot.
- Steve Baltin (Copy, Assignment Editor, CBS News, Radio) 8/28/06. I'm still at the CBS News Radio Network...it's been nearly 27 years since I left WCBS. I produced the World News Roundup for more than 20 years... MORE...
- Bob Gibson (former WCBS anchor) 8/21/06. Ladies and Gentlemen! Saturday has it! After going through your responses to the idea of possibly having the next [CBS] group luncheon on a weekend rather than on Monday, I can tell you that the idea of gathering on Saturday won overwhelmingly. MORE...
- Charles Sanzone (Gaslight Review Site) 8/17/06. About 1968, the Explorer Scouts let Evander Childs High School (Bronx) Radio Club to record and broadcast spots at the Boy Scout Scout-A-Ree at Flushing Meadows Park. MORE...
- Paul Francuch, Chicago (listener) 7/27/06. In your "signature sounds," you identify at the end of the clip three jingles you say "were never used." However... MORE...

- Hank Wallace, JD (listener) 7/27/06. "Now, from CBS News, this Net Alert bulletin." MORE...

- Sherry Cener (My Years at WCBS 88) 7/26/06. I started my first job at WCBS Newsradio 88 in April 1969 working in the Traffic Department when I was just 18 years old. MORE...

- Janice Harper (sister of late WCBS anchor Jim Harper) 7/10/06. My brother was an anchorman at WCBS in the late 1960s and left in 1970; shortly after, (as you might know if you knew him) died after an accidental shooting, leaving behind many tapes of interviews and news shows. MORE...

- Mark Monsky, Long Time TV Exec and former WCBS staffer, is dead 6/27/06. Monsky, creator of "Hard Copy," was also News Director at WNBC-TV and WNEW-TV. MORE...

- RATHER'S EXIT-- SHABBY TREATMENT BY CBS 6/21/06. By Tom Shales in The Washington Post. Rather accuses CBS of not living up to its obligations, by the Post's Howard Kurtz.

- Don Swaim 6/13/06. Thanks to the efforts of former Newsradio88 anchor Bob Gibson, former and current WCBS staffers, guests, and friends met in Teaneck, New Jersey, on June 12, 2006, for their semi-annual "Board" meeting. To see photographs from this and previous luncheons, go to: Board Meetings

- EX-WCBS STAFFER ED BRADLEY ON THE OUTS WITH CBS? 6/9/06. The talented but sometimes difficult Bradley, now a regular on "60 Minutes," was a reporter at Newsradio88 in the 70s. For his current problems with the 'net, read Ken Parish Perkins' article in The Chicago Defender. UPDATE. The Associated Press reports Bradley signed a contract to remain with "60 Minutes."

- Frank Gosztyla (long time listener) 6/6/06. Thank you for the update on Jack Sterling. I think radio could use some more of radio's golden days from American Airlines Music through the Night to John Henry Faulk to Sterling. [For an expanded tribute to Jack Sterling go to: Jack Sterling Page]

- CBS RADIO TO DUMP 35 O&Os 5/18/06. A radio station is no longer the precious commodity it used to be. Back in "our day" the idea would have been unthinkable, since the networks were only allowed to own seven stations. Today, by using Apple's iTunes and other free Internet sources, radio can be heard from all over the world. Not to mention satellite radio.

- Don Swaim 5/4/06. Eric Boehlert's indictment of the mainstream media, including CBS, for helping to engineer the catastrophe of Iraq is so compelling that I wanted to pass it along. Go to: SALON [NOTE: not necessarily the opinions of the WCBS Newsradio 88 Appreciation Site]

- Jim McCarthy (first WCBS Washington correspondent) 4/30/06. The memories came flooding back: The plane crash that took us off the air the first day, the death of my dearest friend Steve Flanders, etc., etc. MORE...

- Jerry Jaick (former WCBS technician) 4/27/06. I am so glad I surfed around the retirees web site and found you! I'm very proud of the time I spent at Newsradio 88 and tell anyone that will listen what a very talented group I worked with in radio. It was great to see the pictures you posted of the luncheon especially of Dave Atherton, John Lancellotti and of course yourself. MORE...

- Bob Gibson (former WCBS anchor) 4/25/06. BOARD MEETING SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 12, 2006. Hi, Folks. Before you know it, summer will have a lot of us travelling this way and that, so before too many of us scatter, we want to toast the season and one another with a good old-fashioned Board Meeting. MORE...

- Michael Kahn (former WCBS writer-editor 1989-1996) 4/25/06. The Web site is fantastic and really does justice to the proud history of this once great radio station. Much like my good friend Wayne Cabot, I grew up listening to WCBS (I think Wayne and I were separated at birth -- only he got the good looks). As a kid, I was as familiar with Lou & Jim and Pat & Ben as I was with Harry Harrison and Dan Ingram. MORE...

- David Thompson (Tallahassee, FL) 4/7/06. It looks like Palmer Payne posted something. Is he still around and/or on the radio? As a kid I remember listening to Palmer from my house in Florida on WCBS. I thought he had the best "radio voice" I had ever heard. I've often wondered about his whereabouts. Thanks. David Thompson, Tallahassee, Fl [see Palmer Payne 7/8/05 below]

- Greg Forbach (former technician, WCBS) 3/10/06. Hi Don, I don't know if you remember me. I worked with you and the others at Newsradio 88 as a tech from 1970 to 1974. I can see this web site is a labor of love for you. Your incredible site brings some great memories of a great part of my life. MORE...

- Don Swaim 3/9/06. Lots of new audio material courtesy of Wayne Cabot. Go to WCBS Audio Files

- Jerry LeBow (former technician, WCBS) 3/8/06. Just found your site while surfing the web.. you may remember me, an engineer at the start of Newsradio 88...in 1967.. In master control when the plane hit the tower.... MORE...

- Louis A. Freizer (retired Senior Executive Producer, WCBS) 2/26/06. Don... It has been a long, long time. I came across your WCBS web site while doing some research on the computer and was surprised and very pleased. Last summer, Michele and I moved permanently from New York to Belgium where we have homes both in Brussels and on the North Sea coast. I'm just getting my feet wet in the international relations consulting area.

- Brian Horton, Indian Rocks, FL (veteran listener) 2/24/06. Great site Don. Though I have not lived in Metro New York for almost 20 years, I can still hear the resonant voices of Palmer Payne, Bill Fahan, Harvey Hauptman; the soft overnight voice of the late Tom Franklin; the cheerful good mornings of Jim Donnelly, Lou Adler and "Big Ed" Ingles (as Donnelly called him). MORE...

- CBS News' Christopher Glenn Retires 2/22/06. Glenn spent thirty-five years at CBS, eighteen of those years anchoring two of the network's most influential radio newscasts. Charles Osgood anchors an audio tribute to Glenn, who reflects on his long career, in this salute from CBS News.

- Don Swaim 2/11/06. Thanks to Bob Gibson for sending the terrific 1967 CBS Radio ad which is posted on the main page juxtaposed with a much later one of Charles Osgood. Special thanks to Bill Tynan, WCBS, for giving me the debut broadcast of Newsradio88, also 1967. I posted an illuminating 1984 interview with William L. Shirer, then in his 80s, about the start of CBS News. Much more to come, including my interview with another of Murrow's boys, David Schoenbrun. Go to WCBS Audio Files. This stuff helps keeps CBS's history alive -- so please send your contributions to me.

- Peter Van Syckle (early WCBS listener) 2/7/06. Thank you for assembling a web site that shows the depth of the resources and personalities that have allowed WCBS NewsRadio to endure. My first recollections of WCBS Newsradio 88 are of listening to Steve Porter, who I believe did the 6 am-8 am anchor shift before Charles Osgood took over. MORE...

- Herb Starr (Former Albany Bureau Chief, WCBS) 2/4/06. Dear Don: As one who filed for NR 88 from this Capitol back when it all started [1967], Edwards-Athens [go to soundfiles for Douglas Edwards-Art Athens interview] sent chills up my spine, reminding me (again) how the business has changed--and not always for the good. MORE...

- Don Swaim 1/23/06.WHY MURROW MATTERS. The Jan. 23, 2006 issue of The New Yorker contains a valuable article by Nicholas Lemann on why the life and times of the broadcast pioneer are still important. Here's a link to the article: The Murrow Doctrine

- Don Swaim 1/21/06. Ken Lamb, former operations manager at WPAT, now at ABC, contributed a delightful recording of one-time morning man at WCBS Jack Sterling on his tenth anniversary in 1958 [posted on the audio page]. This prompted me to set up a Jack Sterling page. And thanks to Bob Gibson for his contributions. Go to: Jack Sterling Page

- Steve Bousquet (Tallahassee, FL, Bureau Chief, St. Petersburg Times) 1/7/06. Don: I just found your site. What a treasure! Let me tell you a quick story. I was a young radio reporter in R.I., attending the University of Rhode Island in the mid-70s, working at a little station in beautiful Wickford, R.I., WKFD (500w) then co-owned by Lou Adler. MORE...

- William Brown (WCBS listener) 1/4/06. I certainly remember from the 1970's, besides all the anchors and reporters who worked at Newsradio 88, and the various sounders, some of the ads, especially during the late night/overnight hours, for such entities as Mickey Rooney's Downingtown, PA hotel (forgot the exact name thereof) and Gramercy Park Clothes... MORE...

- CBS News veteran Strawser dead at 78 1/3/06. LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former broadcast newsman Neil Strawser, who anchored CBS radio coverage of President John Kennedy's assassination, the Watergate hearings and NASA space launches, has died at age 78, the network said on Tuesday. MORE...

News and Recollections 2007
News and Recollections 2006
News and Recollections 2005

WCBS NEWSRADIO88 APPRECIATION SITE