Bixler???

[Talknet]

Anybody have any Denny Bixler stories to share????????

 

[clangham]

Good Old Dennis J and his talk radio/commentary. Those were the days.

 

[fryman]

Oh yes, I remember when Denny first ran for office and put up billboards with his home phone number instructing the populace to call him and "have a cup of coffee with him." I also remember when he voted down a payraise and his Harrisburg cronies were ready to lynch him. I remember when George Wallace was shot, Denny got a private plane and flew a couple of his guys to DC to cover the event (!) and Denny drove by the White House and said very seriously that he would be there someday. I also heard that when Denny started in radio in Johnstown and was pedalling ads that he told his clients that HE would cut their spot but of course they had to pay a talent fee. I also remember when Denny and Lou Marhoffer ran against one another...I believed the democrats wiretapped Lou's phones or something to that effect. Before that deal was over, Lou manged to demand "Equal Time" and got it on WVAM. The best thing to ever happen to Denny is when he met Randy "the cashcow" Birdsall! I also remember a small fire at WVAM that no one ever found out about not to mention a demolition derby with the news cruisers. The WVAM couch in the front office could write a book if couches could talk. I could share even more tales but first I have to check on the statue of limitations. Denny was essentially a jerk in most ways but an excellent radio man...both on and off the air. We had our differences but I was glad that I was able to call him during his last days in the hospital. Nobody deserves to die that way and/or that young. He was a promoter's promoter. Oh yeah, I remember the time he hooked up with the man from Paduccah, Kentucky who owned a big ape that was one gene short or missing or one gene too many...whatever...Denny promoted the damned ape on his talk show and brought it to the Jaffa Mosque TWICE and charged a hefty admission. It was the "Ape with the Missing Link".

 

[wiifm]

How old was he when he died? I barely remember him

 

[fryman]

I would think in his 40's...45 or 46 from what I recall. Tom Healy would surely know if he were alive today but I see where he died recently. I'm not sure where Denny's wife ended up. Dave Sacks over in Greensburg would probably know.

 

[SarasotaJim]

Bix was 42 when he died. A year or so after I left WVAM, I got a call from Denny. I have no idea what was going on but he offered me the FM station for $40,000. He hit me at the wrong time, I just couldn't put it together as quickly as he required.

 

[acockrum]

Greetings everyone. I am a documentary filmmaker producing a three part series about Oliver the Missing Link (Chimpanzee) who was brought to Altoona by Denny Bixler. I'm looking for anyone who may have known or worked with Denny around the time that Oliver was in Altoona in 1976. From reading your comments above, it looks like a couple fellows named Tom Healy and David Sacks may have known Denny. Denny looks like he was a fascinating guy by the way! Does anyone have any info on where I can find either of those two people, or anyone else that may have worked with Denny, or a WVAM, or possibly gone to the Oliver show? Thanks for any info you could share! - Andy Cockrum (www.dangerdogfilms.com)

 

[kliesmann]

Hi everyone! Does anyone know any of Denny Bixler's children? I believe their names are Jason and Courtney Bixler. He also had two aids named Sandi and Karen who worked for him, and I am looking for anyone who knows him who can tell me more about him! Any help would be much appreciated