Bernie Dittman dies

[frequentmodulator]

Posting on MS board because of so many friends and ties:

From AllAccess.com:


Everyone at ALL ACCESS is very saddened to report the passing of legendary independent broadcaster BERNIE DITTMAN at the age of 79 following a short but serious illness (10/25). He is survived by his wife, JUDY, and three daughters, BETSEY, STEPHANIE and MARSHA.

[EDIT]


[EDIT-post truncated for unauthorized use of copyrighted content. Radio-Info regrets the passing of such a respected industry pioneer. Please proceed to Allaccess.com for the rest of the story.]

www.allaccess.com

 

[tonedeaf]

That was a nice tribute. He will be missed by all....a legend in radio broadcasting.

 

[frequentmodulator]

STAFF TRIBUTE HERE:

http://images.radcity.net/6071/1672110.mp3

 

[CentralFloridaEagle]

"And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.

And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance."

Kahlil Gibran
From "The Prophet"

RIP

 

[DavidDawg]

I worked for Bernie at WABB in Mobile during the late 80's. He was a fine person. Radio needs more people like him.

 

[johnnyv]

Bernie's death is not "new" news to me, but I am new to this site so I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents on this thread as well.

I, too, worked for Bernie at WABB. In early 1969 I sent him a tape from WDLP in Panama City but never got a reply. It turns out he was between PD's and just wasn't making any decisions about jocks. When the WDLP gig imploded after only 2 months I went back to Vicksburg waiting/looking for something else to come along. I took a job at WMIS in Natchez that summer just to appease my parents who wanted me out of the house! I had been at WMIS exactly 1 week (the week of the first moon walk which we carried on network radio) when the phone rings one evening between 6 & 7. These were the days of telephone operators being involved in long distance calls and this voice says "I have a call from Mr. Dittman for Johnny Sommer." Much to my surprise he said he finally had hired a new PD (Scott Segraves from WHBQ) & they were ready to fill an overnight shift. I accepted the offer on the spot, gave Woody Fryar my notice and left for Mobile a week later.
My 2nd week there Hurricane Camille hit the gulf coast. Within a few months I moved up to 7-Midnight at WABB and just a few months after that moved to afternoon drive. Bernie was always encouraging and really loved the business. I remember him calling me on the Hot Line one afternoon as he was coming back from the airport after a visit to L.A. His comment was, "well you're not The Real Don Steele, but you sound good!" R.I.P. Bernie.

 

[qid937]

It's very sad to hear of the passing of someone who worked hard and placed stong and sincere value on the product he gave his listners. He built WAAB into the power house it is and I hope those who worked under him will continue to instil his principals in the station's product.

 

[MN Maniac]

Let's just hope WABB stays in independent hands.

 

[Doctor_Technical]

My 2nd week there Hurricane Camille hit the gulf coast.

Hey JohnnyV, do you have any tales of how Mobile radio experienced Camille? Reason I ask is that I just returned from hearing of Mobile's more-recent Katrina experience: dishes flying off roofs, power out, towers down. My Camille memories are just of Gulfport/Biloxi, would like to hear of her impact in a larger area.

 

[johnnyv]

My 2nd week there Hurricane Camille hit the gulf coast.

Hey JohnnyV, do you have any tales of how Mobile radio experienced Camille? Reason I ask is that I just returned from hearing of Mobile's more-recent Katrina experience: dishes flying off roofs, power out, towers down. My Camille memories are just of Gulfport/Biloxi, would like to hear of her impact in a larger area.

Not much to tell. Actually, my memory seems to be that Mobile escaped surprisingly unscathed during Camille. Mississippi got the brunt of the storm and Camille didn't cover nearly as much territory as Katrina. Dauphin Island got the most damage from flooding, I think. Believe it or not, I litterally slept through much of the storm in a small garage apartment that shook & swayed with the wind but luckily stayed intact. The storm came ashore in the evening, and I had to be on the air Midnight to 6am. I had gone back to Vicksburg for the weekend and had the "pleasure" of driving south into the oncoming wind & rain that afternoon to get back to Mobile. When I got there, they told me to go ahead and rest up because there was no way to know how long I'd be up once I got to work. When I woke up the worst of it had passed. I did see some downed trees & debris on the way to the studios that night, and there was some power outage but the station didn't go off the air. I'm not sure if they were using generators or just got lucky. I do recall driving across US 90 about 3 or 4 weeks later and was just astounded at the devastation along the Gulfport/Biloxi strip. Mobile didn't have nearly as much damage. Sort of an anti-climactic story but that's all I remember.