Larry O'Brien

Larry arrived in Tampa Bay from Toledo’s WTOD in 1964 and did mid-days at WALT.

An electrifying deejay at WALT in 1964-65 era, the mid day machine gunnist was awesome to listen to. He had a rapid fire delivery, always on the upbeat positive side, and made your day to listen to someone with so much zest for life.

Larry did not stay long in Tampa, he had so many offers from around the country. In 1965 he bolted for The Mighty Soul KSOL in San Francisco where he ran an entertaining morning show and was known on the air as Charlie “Baby” Brown. Coincidentally, KSOL was the same station that Ron Hart headed for following his short stay at WALT and Lakeland’s WONN.

The Great Chesapeake Bay Rowing Contest in June of 1968. [ LISTEN ]

Here's an air check montage from June 1968, when WGH's Gene Loving challenged airmates Larry O'Brien and Tom Scott to a rowing contest from Ocean View in Norfolk to Buckroe Beach in Hampton. (16:43)

Larry on the air at WGH in December of 1968. [ LISTEN ] (10:59)

The station Christmas office party from the old Mercury Boulevard studios was in full swing during Larry's show. There are special appearances by a jolly Bob Calvert, who occasionally left the festivities to join Larry on the air.

c.1968-69.

Other stops in Larry’s radio career included WYSL in Buffalo, two stations in Chicago, WGRT and WCFL, WGH in Norfolk, and in 1972, the first of two stints at Pittsburgh’s WTAE.

December 1970.

In November 1972, the new 1250 WTAE was born. Bernie Amrstrong hired Larry O'Brien from WCFL in Chicago where he was doing mornings with Bob Dearborn, who would alsojoin WTAE some time later. Larry asked that his long time friend John Garry be hired as well. John was doing afternoons at WIST in Charlotte, N.C. Larry and John had worked at WTOD in Toledo years earlier. In 1975, Larry suggested that the two should team up - and after a few experimental outings, management agreed, and the O'Brien & Garry Show was born.

The duo developed many characters including Ace Pilot in the Nifty 1250 Heckycopter, Mr. Science and Jimmy, Lt. Macho and others. The O'Brien & Garry Show aired on both WTAE AM&FM until 1977.

(Left) Young Larry O'Brien. Later on behind the mic in 1968. Larry teaming up with John Garry at WTAE. Later, in 1994, he returned to WTAE before retiring to Hilton Head, South Carolina three years later.

Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Aloha News, Joe Collins Youtube.

[ READ ]

Mort Crowley

Mort Crowley was Keener’s first morning man. Hot off the heels of a succesfull run in the AM drive slot at WLS and just prior to a long career in St. Louis, the Mortacular Morning Show had a short, memorable run on WKNR. “(At Keener) We were hooked up in a battle with three other radio stations that were playing the same kind of music.. plus the rhythm and blues stations.. in perhaps one of the wildest markets.. I’ve ever been in,” he said. “It was up-and-at-em and get out of bed in the morning and go for that red meat everyday.”

Crowley remembered that the market was, “..highly competitive, highly spirited, tensions of course were very high. But personal drive and personal ambition were very high, too. There was a lot of esprit de corps at the radio station and that’s why they went so far with the people they had.”?

Bob Green recounted Keener’s sling-shot climb from nowhere to the top. “Within 30 days we went from a 3/10 of a percent rating to 6%. Within 2 months we were at 14% and within three months we were solid number 1.”

From the beginning, response to the new WKNR was overwhelming. And it lead to a quick change in the critical morning drive slot.

One of Mort Crowley’s morning show shticks was a call in bit he did with factory workers. The segment regularly jammed the local phone exchanges, prompting the Bell System to threaten to disconnect WKNR’s telephone service. Frank Maruca remembers that, “Mort went on the air accusing the telephone company of being a monopoly, threw in the gas and electric companies for good measure and.. ultimately resigned on the air.”

Mort Quits Keener 13 in February of 1964.LISTEN ] (9:42)

Mort Crowley / John Landecker / Art Vuolo. [ LISTEN ] (3:40)

In 1967, down the road in Ann Arbor, WOIA was the only commercial FM station in town that played popular music in stereo at night. Art Vuolo, who made a career out of creating radio guides for people who travel, and who is legendary in the industry as broadcasting’s video archivist, earned an on air slot in the late evenings. He was fond of the “drop cart” sound effects that guys like Dick Biondi had perfected over at WCFL and made the most of the station’s stereo signal by featuring an hour of the stuff during his shift. Even more instersting is the guy who reads the news in this ultra rare aircheck. It’s a young John Landecker, practicing his craft as the WOIA news guy.

PSAs were a part of every DJs job, and things were no different for Mort at WKNR. All voices are Mort’s and produced by Bob Green. [ LISTEN ] (5:18)

He anchored the stations rise from nowhere to the top of the ratings and generated a tremendous response to his listener call-in bits. His telephone shtick was so successful that it regularly jammed the Detroit exchanges, prompting the phone company to threaten to cut off WKNR’s telephone service.

This arrogant wielding of monopoly power was too much for Mort and he said so on his program one Friday morning in a tirade that ended up with is on-air resignation.

Mort's tirade on his last day at WKNR. [ LISTEN ] (9:42)

Detroit’s “Bad Boy” Mort Crowley who hit the front pages by quitting on the air at WKNR has since become the model of deportment. Mort joined Storz-owned WDGY, Minneapolis, in July 1964 and moved to St. Louis with Storz’s KXOG last January (1965). Mort told Billboard by phone he hopes to regain the ground he lost by his mistake and noted: “Thank God, I have an opportunity to do it.” - Source: Billboard, July 17, 1965.

Crowley went on to distinction in Denver and St. Louis before retiring from radio, a legend in his own time. He passed away at his home in Miquon, Wisconsin, on March 30, 1995. He died after a lengthy bout battling cancer. Mort Crowley was 63.

[ READ ]

Shadoe Stevens

Stevens was born Terry Keith Ingstad on November 3, 1947 in Jamestown, North Dakota. He first came to fame in 1957 when a Life magazine article about him, entitled "America's Youngest D.J.", featured a photo of Stevens broadcasting live over radio station KEYJ (now called KQDJ) in his hometown of Jamestown.

1950s: Young Terry Ingstad

The accompanying article extolled the fact that he had built his own working transmitter in the attic of his home the year before, using a "souped-up" wireless broadcasting kit with a hundred-foot antenna. It omitted, however, the additional information that the equipment and advice needed to build the transmitter had both been furnished by the staff engineers at KEYJ, which happened to be owned by his father and uncle. His family continues to own many radio stations in North Dakota to this day, under the Ingstad Family Media group.

He was later "discovered" in a "man on the street" interview by the station and was soon broadcasting a weekly rock show called Spin with Terry. During his high school years, he obtained a full-time shift at the station as a host of the Mister Midnight program, where he developed his now-famous "slow 'n low" style of speaking.

Stevens attended and graduated from the University of North Dakota, where he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. Majoring in Commercial Art and Radio/TV Journalism at the University of North Dakota and the University of Arizona, Stevens put himself through college working in radio at KILO in Grand Forks, North Dakota; KQWB in Fargo, North Dakota; and KIKX in Tucson, Arizona, where he quickly became the most popular DJ in town, under the on-air persona of "Jefferson K."

Following college, he joined the Bill Drake-formatted station WRKO in Boston during the winter of 1968-69. At WRKO, he worked the early evening (6-9 p.m.) shift during the station's peak in popularity. In the spring of 1970, he moved to Southern California to another Drake outlet, KHJ, as one of the last true "Boss Jocks", where his big baritone and energetic enthusiasm soon gained a following. Before long, he gained significant popularity on radio and became the announcer and sidekick on the nationally syndicated television series The Steve Allen Show.

KRLA jock Dick Sainte hands things off at 6 PM to Shadoe on January 4, 1971.
[ LISTEN ] (19:07)

Stevens later went on to become a radio personality and program director at KRLA in Los Angeles. Attaining status as a programmer, he was hired to make a success of KMET-FM and then to create the programming for a new radio format on a new Los Angeles station, KROQ-FM ("K-Rock"), where he remained for five years.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Stevens gained an additional cult following when he created and produced Fred R. Rated for Federated, a long-running series of offbeat television commercials for the Federated Group, a chain of home electronics retailers in the western and southwestern United States.

These ads were so popular that they were the subject of a two-page spread in Time Magazine and led to a movie deal, television shows, and American Top 40. In 1984, Stevens entered an inpatient treatment facility in order to overcome a drug problem that had plagued him since the late 1960s.

Stevens acted for the first time when he was coerced into auditioning for Arthur Miller's After the Fall at the University of Arizona. He not only won a role, he got the demanding lead of Quentin, who is virtually never off the stage. One local reviewer said, the young performer "commanded the stage with a commanding voice." He contributed several deadpan readings of absurd material for The Kentucky Fried Movie and then gained national recognition as the announcer for two incarnations of The Hollywood Squares (the 1986–1989 and the first 4 seasons of the 1998-2004 version), appearing in the middle square of the bottom row and guest hosting for a week during the final season of the 1980s version.

This video was created for the Opening Reception of the Shadoe Stevens Art Show at Galerie Michael in Beverly Hills. It contains key moments from a lifetime of changes, disciplines, career shifts, and unexpected rewards including most of the major jobs, projects, and passions.

He also became known for playing Kenny Beckett on the sitcom Dave's World (1993–1997) and serving as announcer for the Fender Bender 500 segments of Wake, Rattle, and Roll. He appeared as himself on an episode of The Larry Sanders Show and also on Caroline in the City. In 1988, he starred in the film Traxx. In 1990, Stevens also starred as the title character on the TV series Max Monroe: Loose Cannon. In 1992, he made a small appearance in the comedy film Mr. Saturday Night. In 1996, he provided the voice for Doc Samson in The Incredible Hulk.

In 1999, he had a cameo in a season 9 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210, playing Sonny Sharp, a former top radio DJ who befriends David Silver.

In late 2005, Stevens was hired to be The Late Late Show's announcer, a position he held until the end of March 2015 when the production contract with then-Late Late Show producer Worldwide Pants ran out at the end of a two-month interregnum of guest hosts. As part of an April Fool's Day hosting swap, Stevens announced for The Price Is Right with Craig Ferguson hosting while Drew Carey with his Price is Right announcer George Gray hosted The Late Late Show on April 1, 2014. Shadoe continues to work with Ferguson as the announcer on the History Channel's Join or Die with Craig Ferguson, and as of February 2017 on The Craig Ferguson Show on SiriusXM radio.

Wife Beverly Cunningham, 1989

In July 2015, Stevens was named the primary continuity announcer for Tribune Media's classic television subchannel network, Antenna TV, filling a position vacant since the death of fellow DJ and announcer Gary Owens on February 12, 2015.

Stevens married his first wife Linda in 1967 (divorced, 1979), he then married Cynthia Gaydos in 1980 (divorced, 1984). Most recently, he married Beverly Cunningham (an international model) in 1986. Stevens has three children, one son, Brad, from his first marriage and two daughters from his third marriage, Amber Dawn (West) (also an actress) and Chyna Rose.

Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Actors Entertainment.

[ READ ]

Hoyt Locke

Locke was born in Chattanoga, Tennessee, March 11, 1912 and his family moved to Barthman Avenue on Columbus’ Southside. He attended Reeb Avenue Elementary School.

According to the book Life is a Jukebox, by former WCOL announcer Rick Minerd, Dr. Bop popularized rock and roll/rhythm and blues among Whites and created an identity for WCOL that made it the number one station for the next several years.

Hoyt Locke was not the first deejay playing rhythm and blues/rock and roll on Columbus airwaves. That distinction comes to WVKO’s Eddie Saunders, who in 1955 was Jumpin’ Jive at Five-O-Five. But Dr. Bop was the first to create a rock and roll culture in Central Ohio.

Dr. Bop Hoyt Locke on WAWA-FM some time in 1966. [ LISTEN ] (6:23)

In 1966 there was no such format as urban, so it’s a mainly R&B oriented Top 40.

Locke and his brother, Edgar, came to WCOL-AM in 1956, as clients for Bop Records, located at 474 E. Main Street. They were at the studios creating fifteen minute infomercials, when the announcer got up an left, leaving the the station without a voice. The studio engineer asked Hoyt to take over and the fifteen minutes became a six hour, all night broadcast.

The station's format was Big Band music but Doc started playing R&B and Rock & Roll, thus becoming the first jock to play Rock music in Columbus. He generated so much excitement that night that the station not only kept him on, but changed their format to Top-40.

Promo for The Delmonts vs The Veltones, Battle of the Bands, May 29, 1964.

The first paid advertising for Dr. Bop was City Service Gasoline, at Garfield and Mt. Vernon Avenues, purchasing three months worth of air time. Soon it was followed by City Gas, Certified Oil, the Beverly Drive-Ins, Buckeye Potato Chips and other locally owned business.

"The New WCOL" became the top station in Columbus and remained #1 for the next 20 years. Doc left WCOL and went to WAWA in 1960. WAWA was a small local station that was aimed at the black community but became a “cult favorite” of mainstream suburban white kids who enjoyed the soul music sound.

Dr. Bop on WAWA one more time! [ LISTEN ] (15:52)

This aircheck is Bop launching into one of his famous poetic monologues- and includes him interviewing a soul group called “The Mark IV” who were appearing at a local black lounge. Bop was famous for his “talking-over” songs while they played.

Dr. Bop was flamboyant, controversial and his race wasn’t hidden. He refered to his “silver foxes”, young White women who followed his show. He stayed with WCOL until 1959 and in 1960, he went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to star in radio there.

"This is Doctor Bop on the scene, with a stack of shellac and my record machine."

Hoyt Locke passed away on February, 24, 1976, at 63.

Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Columbus Music History, Airchexx, Mayor Arnett.

[ READ ]

Connie Szerszen

WIND Chicago Illinois
September, 1977
[ LISTEN ] (13:27)

Connie Szerszen is an American female radio personality. Szerszen is a native Chicagoan of Polish ancestry.

While she was talent coordinator at WCFL, Szerszen was discovered by air personality Penny Lane, who called WCFL one day, and soon talked Szerszen into auditioning as a dee-jay for WSDM-FM, "The Station With the Girls and All That Jazz Smack Dab in the Middle."

Den Pals, Connie is standing 2nd from left.

In October 1969, Szerszen started her broadcasting career at WSDM-FM. As one of the “Den Pals”, who were sort of a take-off on the Playboy Club’s “Bunnies,” Connie and the other girls were asked to pick an “air name” and since she started so early on Saturday morning, she chose “Dawn.”

Promoted as “the world’s most sensuous disc jockey”, Connie meant it to be a parody. Everyone on the station sounded so sexy (that may have been part of the plan), that she didn’t really feel like she fit that mold. So she played with it.

Connie made every attempt to bring humor into her show rather than sex appeal - she had features on the show like “The Bachelor Boy Household Hint of the Day,” read the funnies on the air, and reported celebrity gossip between songs. She eventually did the morning show before leaving for WIND.

WSDM audio from 1970 featuring MusiCraft commercials voiced by DJ Dawn, Connie Szerszen.

On Christmas Day, 1971, Connie started DJ'ing at WIND. Program Director, Bob Moomey, had hired her as a week-end DJ.

In March of 1974, Westinghouse Broadcasting sent out a press release stating they had the “first female personality on AM radio to have her own prime time radio show.” No major market, Chicago, New York, nor Los Angeles, had ever done this. Women had only held positions in “news” or on the graveyard shift, or as sidekick to a man. When Al Mitchell became the new program director at WIND, he switched Connie from week-ends to her own 6-10 PM full-time shift.

January 9, 1975 and Connie is on-the-air at WIND. [ LISTEN ] (5:22)

"TOP 56 OF '76"

Midwest Magazine 1977

A Daily News article published in 1972 stated "AM Program directors conceded that she had a good voice, but added that women were unsuitable for AM air work because of their unstable employment record (they sometimes get pregnant)," and later in the article..."Another prospective employer told Connie that a woman's voice doesn't have the authority needed for AM radio."

Connie with Elton John, Bobby Vinton, and Tom Jones.

On the lighter side, on her first day at WIND, on her very first show, it seemed no one could hear Connie's voice. Someone had turned the mic around so she was speaking into the back of it. Since it had a foam cover, not even the engineer could figure it out.

The Chicago Sun-Times Midwest Magazine made her a cover story, crediting her as "The Woman Who Invented Strip Radio." CBS-2 in Chicago did a feature story on her show for its 5 PM newscast with Bill Kurtis on May 7, 1976 and broadcast on Channel 2 News in Chicago.

Szerszen was also an on-air personality for several other Chicago stations, including WJMK, WJEZ, WJJD, and WUSN "US-99." She appeared on local TV shows and guest-hosted WCIU-TV's Kiddie-A-Go-Go in October, 1970.

With Stevie Nicks at the Playboy Mansion.

When ABC7 was searching for a hostess for its daytime talk show, Program Manager Jeff McGrath interviewed Connie and viewed her guest appearance on the NBC show, Tilmon's Tempo, with weather forecaster/pilot Jim Tilmon. All went well, until he informed her at the end of the interview that they would also be talking to a woman from out of town named Oprah Winfrey. Connie lost out.

Spiderman!

On June 14, 2011, ABC7 featured Connie on Chicago Close-Up as a pioneering female DJ. Connie Szerszen is known to her listeners as the Top Rock Girly Jock and Polish Princess and ends her shows with "Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła", the first line of the Polish national anthem.

TOP ROCK GIRLY JOCK

Autobiography of Connie Szerszen, Chicago's Pioneer Woman in Radio.

America's 1st Female Rock Jock on AM radio in Chicago! 1st Female in America to Broadcast Live on HD radio in 2005.

Over 200 photos and memorabilia of Chicago radio stations WCFL, WSDM, WIND, WJJD, WJEZ, WJMK and WJMK-HD2. Order Connie's book HERE for only $19.95!

Some materials on this page were previously published by the following: Chicago Radio Spotlight, Celebrity DJ, Facebook, Airchexx, Chicago Radio and Media.

[ READ ]

Lan Roberts

Lan Roberts was KJR's most creative air personality during its Top 40 era. Pat O'Day said of him, "he had a childlike imagination that was a thing of beauty. He wanted radio to go beyond the mundane. He wanted to make people laugh every hour." Coming to Seattle from New Orleans, he was heard on KJR from 1962 to 1968, and then at KOL for two years before returning to KJR from 1970-73.

Born Lanny Lipford in Bonham, Texas, on December 18 1936, Lan started out in radio at a small market in North Texas and during college worked as the youngest jock ever at radio station KLIF in Dallas, one of the nation’s first top 40 personality stations. He later moved to New Orleans where he was morning show host at WTIX owned by Todd Storz who is credited with inventing Top 40 radio.

Some of the characters on Lan’s show included: The Hollywood Reporter, Phil Dirt, Clyde Clyde-The Cow’s Outside, W.A.L. Street Senior, Manuel Dexterity (a decorative soap salesman), Mr. Science of Mr. Science and Jimmy Fame.

Lan would hold contests where the "prize" would be such things as a dime or the opportunity to wash his car. When he offered to send listeners "a little green thing with a picture of duck on it" the station received so many SASE requests that a minor crisis ensued. He would show silent movies on the radio.

1969

Lan at KJR in 1965. [ LISTEN ] (9:15), and again in September of 1968.
[ LISTEN ] (8:33)

The first (scoped) aircheck opens with "The Hollywood Reporter." Send for your very own UFO Detector Plans through the mail. Willie Mays hits his 501st career home run. "Old Maid" game might win a listener a Fab 50 record and more.

KJR Supercar, Lan (right) & Pat O'Day

Roberts would later become a high-profile presenter with KJR in Seattle. Like many of the local DJs of the time, he left KJR for rival top 40 station KOL in a late 1960s talent raid and returned to KJR in the early 1970s. He was known primarily for comedic skits and gags, working the "morning drive" shift from 6:00 am until 10:00 am on weekdays.

Lan in 1965

Roberts was a master of voices and surrounded the top 40 hits of KJR with odd characters with names like Phil Dirt and The Hollywood Reporter. Roberts would carry on spirited conversations between his regular on-air voice and the characters. The Hollywood Reporter (no other name was given) would always begin a report on celebrity gossip in a lisping, snide, mocking voice "This is The Hollywood Reporter," and then continue with a totally bogus report.

Lan developed and executed a laundry list of radio promotions during his time spent at KJR.

The World’s First Slug Race Festival in 1969 staged on the then giant parking lot of a WhiteFront store. Reigning over the festivities was the Lan Roberts Slug Queen, a U of H costume designer that won the contest when her room mate poured a box of salt on her during the Slug Queen auditions. Over 5000 people showed up for the racing event in Burien.

The Slug Queen Cannon Shot staged a year later at KOL where the Slug Queen was shot from a homemade cannon at Pacific Iron and Metal Company. The event was a disaster. It was raining heavy but the event went on with a local all tuba band playing Nearer My God to Thee as the Slug Queen was fired from the cannon. The home made cannon looked like a giant black penis on the back of the flat bed truck so attempts were made to hide the symbolism by painting the word “cannon” on the side of the home made cannon. It didn’t help much.

KOL Seattle 1970

The Lan Robert Sky Circus was an all day Saturday event that took place at Seattle Sky Sports near Issaquah where Lan had been an avid sky diver for the previous year and a half. The event was totally staged, unlike your average air show. Stunt planes, World War Two aircraft making low level runs with powder charges buried and detonating as if the planes were strafing the audience. The pyrotechnics were excellent. Hot Air Balloon rides, sky diving demos, a dog fight between Snoopy and the Red Baron with 3/4 scale replicas of the Fokker Tri Wing airplane and a Sopwith Camel aircraft were all part of the 4 hour show.

Lan in 1966

World’s First Buffalo Chip Throwing Contest took place at the football stadium at Issaquah High School in 1971. Lan and four friends parachuted in with the chips to start the festivities after a big Buffalo Chip parade complete with a Buffalo Chip Queen.

The Queen was an 80 year old local Issaquah resident with an incredible sense of humor. Ammunition for the event was picked up at a buffalo/llama ranch Southeast of Tacoma. The pick up committee included Lan, his current girlfriend at the time, and the buffalo ranch owner’s daughter.

It seemed that the ranch owner knew nothing about the pickup committee coming. His daughter invited the committee to the ranch without his approval. It turned out to be almost deadly. While picking up the poop and putting it in plastic bags, buffalo bull number one started slowly coming over to check it out. The pick up committee later found out that the bull had almost killed several people. At the same time the pick up committee was attacked by a raging llama. Films such as “When LLamas Attack” had never even been thought about at that time.

Here is a composite of the body of work Roberts contributed to the airwaves. [ LISTEN ] (6:50)

The KJR years (early ’62 to mid ’69), with Phil Dirt, the Hollywood Reporter, a ’62 Name-it-and-Claim-it intro and Lan’s Old Maid Game. Over to KOL (late ’69 through May ’71) where (following a legal battle with KJR) Lan takes an on-air poke at Pat O’Day, a Robin Mitchell Snow Bust promo of Lan’s parachuting skills, Mr. Science and Jimmy, and Lan’s famous Jimmy Stalwart grape stomp with another great voice man, Terry McManus, back to KJR/KISW (May ’71 to May ’74) and a ’71 50th anniversary snippet, followed by a ’77 cameo stint on O’Day’s KYYX (at the time Roberts was working at O’Day’s KORL), and finally another brief ’88 KJR encore to help the station’s 1968 class reunion promotion (as morning man on ICRT.)

The committee ran to safety with their prized buffalo chip throwing ammo. 5 members of Hell’s Angels led the Buffalo Chip Throw Sunday in Issaquah. Political activist Tiny Freeman and the Issaquah Mayor were the Buffalo Chip targets during the contest. During the contest the mayor’s wife was hit in the head with a large ripe chip. When told about the incident, the mayor just smiled and continued to be one of the targets. It was amazing what Lan could talk politicians into doing back in those days.

One event that wasn’t really a promotion but caused a lot of talk happened in 1965. With the help of UFO investigator Major Wayne Aho Lan asked on the air for any UFOs in the vicinity to answer their plea to communicate via KJR’s frequency. After asking for them to answer Lan turned the transmitter signal off to see if contact could be made. Nothing happened for five days. On the 5th day Lan and Major Aho asked any UFOs in the area to land at the Seattle Sky Sports grass runway.

At 8:00pm that evening about twenty people were gathered at the skyport looking up. At approximately 8:15pm there was a glow from the east over the Cascade mountains that moved slowly toward where they were. When it got directly over the area it began to zig zag back and forth. After descending what looked like a couple of thousand feet it shot off to the north at an incredible speed. It was amazing that with all the observers watching this to verify what had just happened, not many people believed Lan when he reported it the next day.

In order to get into the act Pat O’Day started the story that he had hired a sky diver to perform and that was what Lan and his followers had seen.

Pat was even quoted that he had hired a sky diver from Issaquah. “That’s funny” Lan said, “The owner of the Sky Port was there with us and was also astounded by what had happened.”…..None of the skydiving planes were in the air at the time and hadn’t been since the previous weekend. Other sky diving drop zones in the area were shut down that day.

Lan’s final disappearing act came in 1974. At the peak of his career he decided to do what a lot of guys wanted to do but never had the guts to do it. Take off and sail to Tahiti. He finally settled in Honolulu about a year after his journey and worked on the radio for over ten years. He was offered a job he couldn’t refuse in Taiwan in 1985 at radio ICRT, the only English language radio station on Taiwan. He eventually became general manager and left to return to the states after a seven year sojourn.While in Taiwan he flew to South Africa on numerous occasions, as an official ambassador of goodwill for Taiwan, to do the morning show at Radio 5 in Johannesburg.

Later in life, Roberts returned to live in his old home town and worked as a radio consultant. He gained a new following by sharing his liberal political views on his website. In addition, he used his Internet presence to chastise the corporate mentality and lack of creativity in the modern broadcast industry.

He lived life to the fullest and inspired others to do the same. Lan passed away December 30, 2005 in Denison, Texas from complications associated with his long battle with cancer.

WHERE DID LAN WORK? Here is the list: KJR, KOL, KJR, KORL, KIKI, ICRT (Taipei), KRQR, and KBIG-FM.

Some materials found on this page were originally published by the following: Puget Sound, Norm Gregory, Edmond Bruneau.

[ READ ]