http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl? http://www.eblah.com en http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1283540765/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1283540765/#num1 P-I archive: The first Seahawks radio broadcasters


A portion of the Aug. 1, 1976 P-I story announcing the first Seahawks radio broadcasters.

Today from the Seattlepi.com archives, we have a 1976 story about the first Seattle Seahawks broadcasting team.

During that inaugural 1976 season, Seahawks broadcasts filled six hours on KIRO 710-AM, now ESPN Seattle and still the team's radio home. The three-man team was Pete Gross, Wayne Cody and Don Heinrich.

Gross was KIRO's sports director in 1976, and in his 17 years as the Seahawks' play-by-play announcer, he missed only six games.

During a Monday Night Football game in 1992, Gross joined retired players Jim Zorn, Steve Largent and Dave Brown in the Seahawks' Ring of Honor. During the midfield induction ceremony, he made special mention of his family as well as fellow KIRO broadcasters Steve Raible and Cody.

"This week is one of the greatest weeks in my life,'' said Gross, who was determined to be at the ceremony.

Fifty-two hours later, he died of complications from his four-year battle with cancer. Gross was 55.

Read his obituary here.

Pete Gross House is a 70-unit apartment building created to serve patients and their families who are receiving care or treatment at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Click here for more.

Wayne Cody, another Seattle celebrity of the 1970s and '80s, spent 14 years on KIRO TV and 21 on KIRO radio. In radio alone, he made more than 43,000 sportscasts.

He died from complications from a heart attack June 7, 1992 at age 65. Read Cody's obituary here.

Heinrich was a Bremerton native who was a two-time University of Washington's All-American quarterback. In 1950 and 1952, he led the nation in passing and later played professional football. He became a member of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1987.

Heinrich, who also worked as an analyst for ESPN and ABC, died of cancer Feb. 28, 1992 at his home in Saratoga, Calif. Read his obituary here.]]> Fri, 3 Sep 2010 12:06:05 mikedup http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1283209671/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1283209671/#num1
August 29, 2010
Jackson Gillis, Prolific Writer of TV Drama, Dies at 93
By BRUCE WEBER

Cops and detectives, doctors and lawyers, spies and cowboys, heroes, superheroes and semi-superheroes. These are staples of television drama, and one of the unsung people who stapled them was Jackson Gillis, a prolific slogger in the trenches of television writing whose career spanned more than four decades and whose scripts put words in the mouths of Superman, Perry Mason, Columbo, Wonder Woman, Zorro, Tarzan, Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, Jessica Fletcher and, in a manner of speaking, Lassie.

Mr. Gillis died of pneumonia in Moscow, Idaho, on Aug. 19, his daughter, Candida, said. He was 93.

Mr. Gillis was not an award winner — he was nominated for a single Emmy, in 1972, for an episode of “Columbo” — but his résumé traces a remarkable path through the evolution of prime time. His niche was the plot-driven tale of distress, in which danger disturbs the serene status quo, is cranked up to crisis dimensions and is resolved with dispatch by the protagonist, all in a neat half-hour, or, more often, an hour.

The formula, of course, stayed remarkably consistent during his career — and it has remained so — but Mr. Gillis showed he could adapt to the tenor of the times.

In the 1950s, his dialogue, in “The Adventures of Superman” and “Lassie,” for example, was replete with homespun clichés (if sometimes winkingly so) and not especially subtle repartee. In the 1960s, when he wrote for shows like “I Spy” and “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” with their wisecracking secret agents, he incorporated the hip lingo that television, however tentatively, invoked to reflect the decade. Later, in “Columbo,” he helped define the low-key nature of the title character (played by Peter Falk), with lines that were understated and wry.

Jackson Clark Gillis was born in Kalama, Wash., on Aug. 21, 1916. His father, Ridgway, a highway engineer, moved the family to California when Jackson was a teenager; his mother, the former Marjorie Lyman, was a piano teacher. He went to Fresno State University and graduated from Stanford. He acted after college, working in Britain and at the Barter Theater in Virginia. (Gregory Peck was also in the company at the time.)

“One play he did was by George Bernard Shaw, who came to see the play and sent him a postcard afterward criticizing his exit,” his daughter wrote in an e-mail. “I have the postcard.”

Mr. Gillis served as an Army intelligence officer in the Pacific during World War II. After his discharge, he and his wife moved to Los Angeles, and he began writing for radio, including the mysteries “The Whistler” and “Let George Do It.”

He shifted to television in the early 1950s; his first regular assignment was for a cop show, “I’m the Law,” which starred George Raft as a New York City police detective. He wrote numerous episodes of “The Adventures of Superman,” beginning in 1953, and from 1954 to 1960 he was a frequent contributor of heroic canine feats and communicative barks for “Lassie.”

He spent several years writing for “Perry Mason,” beginning in 1959. He also wrote popular serials for children that appeared on “The Mickey Mouse Club”: “The Adventures of Spin and Marty,” about boys living on a ranch, and two adventures featuring the teenage amateur detective brothers the Hardy Boys, “The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure” and “The Mystery of the Ghost Farm.”

Mr. Gillis’s 62-year marriage to Patricia Cassidy, whom he met when they were fellow actors at the Barter Theater, ended with her death in 2003. In addition to his daughter, who lives in Moscow, he is survived by a brother, William, of Walnut Creek, Calif., and a grandson.

Candida Gillis said in a telephone interview that as she was growing up, the soundtrack of the house was the constant rat-a-tat of her father’s typewriter, and certainly what is most impressive about Mr. Gillis’s career is its sheer breadth. He worked on “Racket Squad,” “Sugarfoot,” “The Fugitive,” “Lost in Space,” “The Wild, Wild West,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Mannix,” “The Mod Squad,” “Bonanza,” “Ironside,” “Land of the Giants,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “Medical Center,” “Starsky and Hutch,” “Police Woman” and “Murder, She Wrote.”

His daughter described him as a freelance worker bee who was never a Hollywood insider. When he brought her to the studio, he would warn her not to stare at anyone she recognized.

“He was not impressed by the business,” she said, adding that he didn’t watch much television himself.

“He watched football,” Ms. Gillis said. “He thought most of what was on TV was junk.”]]> Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:07:51 One More Mohican http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1283195412/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1283195412/#num1 Whatcom County spokesman, former KVOS newsman Joe Bates dies
ISABELLE DILLS  
THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

BELLINGHAM — Whatcom County spokesman Joe Bates was killed Saturday, Aug. 28, when he fell from a ladder while working on the roof of his Silver Beach home.

The accident occurred around 3 p.m. in the 3000 block of Haggin Street. Someone was holding the ladder below and Bates was near the roof of his one-story home. He fell and struck his head on the ground, suffering severe head trauma, said Whatcom County Medical Examiner Gary Goldfogel. Extensive underlying health issues may have caused him to lose consciousness prior to the fall, Goldfogel said.

Bates, 60, began working as Whatcom County’s information and communications coordinator in 2007. He handled emergency operations communications with the public and the media.
  
Prior to working for the county, Bates had a 35-year career in the news business, including 17 years at KVOS-TV where he was a reporter, producer and sometimes anchor.

“He was very intense about his work,” said Amy Cloud, the former news coordinator for KVOS. “He had a great passion for it.”

She said his death will be painful for everyone he’s left behind.

“His family, friends and co-workers will be lifting him up in prayer,” Cloud said.

This article will be updated with more information soon.

Gord Lansdell at Northwest Broadcasters advises that Joe worked at KNWR-FM (now KAFE) in Bellingham in the early 1970s and more recently hosted weekend shifts on Praise KWPZ-FM Lynden. ]]> Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:10:12 mikedup http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1282405588/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1282405588/#num1 Old Seattle Radio Saturday:
Jimmy Daren

by Michael Hood
Seattle's Blatherwatch
August 21, 2010



He loved AM radio so much, he bought himself a whole bunch of AM stations.

Described as a "radio mogul" in South Florida, James "Jimmy Daren" Hilliard (the name's spelling was later changed to make it different than the singer's) owns the James Crystal Radio Group in Pompano Beach, but began his radio career in the 1950s as a DJ.

He was successful in several large markets including Seattle, Dallas and Indianapolis.

Seattle radio legend Pat O'Day describes hiring Hilliard at KJR:

He walked into KJR one afternoon and introduced himself. He was Jim Hilliard, had just come up from Texas and hired to take over the programming of a station in Bellingham that was just about to go on the air. Upon arrival, he discovered that station was just the dream of some idiot who had led him on!  Jim was somewhat desperate in that his wife Barbara was with him, he had left everything for this new job, and puff, it turned out to be just smoke and mirrors.

He had an aircheck, I listened to it, and hired him on the spot to be my KJR all night man. He wanted a new name for on the air, so quickly agreed to the tag, Jimmy Darren.

His talent was so abundant, it wasn't long until we appointed him to our Spokane station, (then KNEW, eventually KJRB) as not only morning drive jock, but also Program Director. He was funny on the air, great pace, great feeling, simply great is the word. He was an outstanding PD as he had a superlative "shit detector" and was instantly respected by the air staff.

He also had ants in his pants!

Soon, I became aware of his looking for bigger opportunities. This manifested itself before long by his accepting a position with a station in Calgary. I was saddened to lose him. I was national PD for our company at that time and counted on him for big things but knew in the long run I would lose him.  Winnipeg was his next stop as I recall, then on to Philadelphia as Program Director and eventually Indianapolis (WIBC, The Indy 500 Station.) His extraordinary talent was so visible, his climb up the ladder was quick.

I consider Jim Hilliard to be one of America's 10 best PD and broadcasters of all time!

In the 1960s he moved into program management at Philadelphia's then fledging WFIL, and brought that station to #1 in the market.As CO of Fairbanks Communications he acquired South Florida radio stations WRMF, WJNO, and WJNA for the company, and became a full-time Florida resident.

  In 1997, Richard Fairbanks divested his radio stations and the James Crystal Radio Group was formed, named after Hilliard's kids. The group, eventually purchased WRMF, WRLX, WDJA, and WJNA from Fairbanks.

In 2002, Hilliard's continuing interest in AM radio lead him to sell WRMF and concentrate strictly on building a group of South Florida AM stations.

Today, the James Crystal Radio Group owns and operates WFTL-AM 850, WMEN-AM 640, WLVJ-AM 1040, WFLL-AM 1400, as well as KCKN-AM-1020 in Roswell, NM, KNIT in Dallas; and stations in the Turks & Caicos Islands. (H/T: Bill Taylor)

http://blatherwatch.blogs.com/talk_radio/2010/08/old-seattle-radio-saturday-jimmy-daren.html#more

.]]> Sat, 21 Aug 2010 08:46:28 Voice Over http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1282318499/ http://www.pugetsoundradio.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1282318499/#num1 'This American Life' host Ira Glass brings his radio stories to Seattle


Host and producer of "This American Life" Ira Glass
has won several journalism awards for the show
Photo: Stuart Mullenber

By Tom Keogh
SeattleTimes.com
August 20, 2010

It's a Monday morning and, no doubt all over the U.S., people have returned to work to find unexpected crises awaiting them.

Ira Glass, host and producer of public radio's immensely popular "This American Life" program, certainly has his share. Speaking by phone from his New York City office, Glass faces what sounds like a disaster-in-progress involving his next show, scheduled to air Friday.

Yet his graciousness and infectious, low-key, ironic laugh dissolves one's sudden guilt for taking up his time.

"This week's show keeps destroying itself," Glass says. "All four stories scheduled have dissolved into nothing. One of our interviewers is suddenly at Guantánamo, another was boring, one needed more time and one didn't speak well. We have nothing on tape. I posted a notice on our Facebook page: 'Does anyone have stories?' "

Glass will likely describe other (amusing-in-retrospect) instances of bad luck for "This American Life" ("TAL") when he appears Saturday at Benaroya Hall for a presentation called "Radio Stories and Other Stories."

He says he will talk about the show, play recordings of funny moments and use a mixing console to demonstrate how "TAL," with its blended elements of field recordings, music, narration, effects and found footage, is produced.

"TAL" has largely followed the same, first-person, narrative-driven format since its debut as "Your Radio Playhouse" in 1995.

With national syndication a year later, contributing editors and independent writers and producers have provided the show's dramatic and comic essays, memoirs, reportage and occasional pieces of fiction. The writing careers of Sarah Vowell and David Sedaris, among others, were launched via "TAL."

Heard locally on FM radio stations KUOW and KPLU, the show's Seattle-Tacoma audience is among the three largest in the nation.

As if scrounging for replacement material on deadline isn't enough of a challenge, Glass can barely hear me through the noise of a construction worker on a scaffold outside his window.

He chuckles at the burlesque of coincidence: Glass recently completed jury duty on an injury case involving a worker who fell from a scaffold. The experience caused havoc with "TAL"'s recording schedule but laid the groundwork for a possible future show.

"I have the phone number of everyone involved," says Glass. "I'll return to the scene of that crime."

Do all such semi-routine life experiences automatically become fodder for "TAL"?

"There are not that many things so interesting I wish I had to bat away stories," he says. "Stories need characters you can relate to. The plot has to be surprising, leading to thoughts about the world that are interesting and universal. Even stories of life-changing, traumatic events can lack surprise."

"TAL," and Glass, have won several prestigious journalism awards. Yet, after 15 years, Glass doesn't see a specific impact of the show on the culture of journalism outside public radio.

"It's a school others do well," he says. "Michael Lewis, Malcolm Gladwell, even '60 Minutes' — all are strong on character and plot. But certain things play differently on the radio. There's intimacy in people talking and going through experiences."

Tom Keogh: tomwkeogh@yahoo.com

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thearts/2012672399_glass20.html

.]]> Fri, 20 Aug 2010 08:34:59 Radioman