In 1968, when I was born, my mom had no reproductive rights. Yeah, just like today. Sometimes, she’d say to me, “Man, I wish I had a choice back then.” She was kidding. I think.
I survived an era of cars without seatbelts, schools with asbestos, and inhaling more second-hand smoke than a Tuesday afternoon at Dotty’s. All of which, no doubt, stunted my growth and forced me into a life of radio. Again, no choice. I received a Pell Grant to attend broadcasting school. Yeah, that was me. It was like ITT Tech, except for those that desire a career that pays in movie passes and free t-shirts.
I worked in some of the country’s least desirable cities: Burney, Yuba City, California, and Yakima, Washington before landing at KLUC in Las Vegas. For like 20 years, I worked on the morning show there. Like many of us in radio, I was fired. Not my choice.
“I received a Pell Grant to attend broadcasting school. Yeah, that was me. It was like ITT Tech except for those that desire a career that pays in movies passes and free t-shirts.”
I’ve been off-air since 2020, but I still write comedy for a syndicated morning show and produce bits for a radio prep site. Additionally, I write poetry about whales. I also write interactive children’s videos that teach kids how to resolve their conflicts peacefully. And just yesterday, I solved Wordle in two moves.
Two.
Pretty impressive.
What do I have to show for years of smarmy GMs, egomaniacal co-hosts, surly engineers, and shitty car dealership remotes? Induction into the Nevada Broadcasters Hall of Fame, for one. A feat accomplished by many; desired by none. But, I did receive a free dinner and a stoic, engraved, 26-pound, green marble obelisk – the very same obelisk that was used as a murder weapon in the season two episode of “Murder She Wrote,” titled, “The Novelist & the Obelisk.”
The question is if I could go back in time, would I still choose radio? The answer?
Hell no! Are you kidding?