Broadcasting
Before I wanted to be a journalist, I wanted to be on the radio.
How could I not? I'd grown up listening to New York City's
770 WABC at the height of the Top 40 era. Dan Ingram,
George Michael and Harry Harrison -- and the hits -- made me want nothing other than to spend long days spinning music and talking about it.
In 1983, I got my wish. An internship at WEOK/WPDH in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., led to a part-time job there. I spent a couple of months on the AM side of the station, coming in on
weekends to turn on the transmitter and load tapes of pre-recorded shows. But I always looked with longing through the studio glass at the FM side, WPDH, where the jocks were
playing Genesis, Yes, the Beatles and all the music we today call "classic" rock.
I didn't push it, but the program director at the time, Stew Schantz, knew I'd jump at the chance to join the FM team. One day, he called me into his office and asked
if I'd pick up an overnight shift -- midnight to 6 a.m. -- on the coming weekend. He didn't have to ask twice.
More to come ...