I scored some of the Eyes of Texas programs and totally enjoyed working with Ray Miller, Doug Johnson, Bill Ennis, Ted Shaw, Jack London and all the crew in my short two years 1968-1970. Jack London was my boss and he was elegant, cordial, and my childhood DJ hero. I got a transister radio in the 5th grade and started listening to his program after school. Some days Jack would tell me "the funny people are coming today." You could always hear the comics coming down the hall, all excited and ready for a funny commercial. Jack liked to take me and a couple of others to his home for lunch sometimes. He had nine tall grandfather antique clocks he collected in Mexico all set to sound on the hour. It was said that if you have a cocktail party you should always invite Jack to ensure that everyone has a good time. Jack died at his home in San Antonio in the late 90s I believe. Jack's real name was Sam Sitterle and he grew up on a ranch outside of Victoria, but he did not like the ranch lifestyle.
I used to harrass Bill Ennis when he was doing his sports radio update by staring at him inches away through the window of the radio booth. Bill pretended not to notice. Tim and Bob (6:00-10:00 am) were always fun and a great way to start your day. Mike Marshall was a musical history buff and had a radio show. My wife and I visited him and his wife at his home and he played his old records. Buzz Lawrence was clinically insane but I liked his girlfriend a lot - she was totally normal. Buzz brought Barney (a beautiful and talented woman) from Denver at first - they had the Buzz and Barney Show in Denver for many years. But Buzz drove her out of her mind and she quit. Buzz became Program Director later and Jack Harris liked to have him give pep talks to the national ad people from New York on their visits. Buzz died of skin cancer and Jack told me about his last visit to see Buzz.
There was a very nice lady who did not come to work very often, although she had a job title. One day I asked her why and she said she thought everyone knew she was the station escort lady for important visitors. I liked her a lot - very down to earth person supporting her little girl.
Everybody probably knows that Jack Harris was a Colonel in the Army during WWII and that's how he got to know Ovita Culp Hobby, who was the highest ranking woman in the military - head of the WACs. Jack would escort her around to wish each employee a happy Christmas every year, and Jack would whisper our names as she entered the area. Naturally Ovita was also good friends with Judge Roy Holfeinz, who also visited us yearly. Ovita lived in her penthouse in the Houston Post building and Judge Holfeinz lived in his ultra rich quarters inside the Astro Dome.
I saw Gene Elston and Lowell Pass often in the studio, and Bob Green recommended me to them for booth engineer because Bob was leaving the Astros and starting his own studio. The Astros offered me the job, but I had another offer that I took instead. I watched Bob Green and OB Johnson build the control panels for the new station on I-59 long before the move. OB built a very good shotgun mike which I used at the home Rice games when OB was working as booth engineer, until one day players ran over me and crushed me and the mic. That was disappointing because I loved being on the sidelines. I later visited Bob Green in his new studio. What a wonderful guy!
My desk was in Radio Master Control, and on my third day on the job, I pulled the wrong patch cord (never touch the red cords) and knocked the radio station off the air without even noticing. I should have been fired. Jack Harris was FURIOUS!
Bob Presley joined us after 20 years at KILT - what a wonderful guy. Paul Berlin had me over to his home once - he had bought three houses and connected them for a very large house. Ray Miller let me come to his home to record his ducks for a comic makeover of the Blue Danube Waltz. They played that on the air for months by request (Hey play that duck music again).
John Burkman who was TD for the 6:00 and 10:00 news asked me to assist as editor in creating the new Astros theme music which, was used for many years. I still think it was the best ever. I spent evenings watching John direct the news because I was interested in doing that one day, but changed careers. I was never going to be as smart as John.
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson was a KPRC TV politics reporter, but she told me it was the wrong job for her. Her first years as an attorney were difficult because women had a hard time getting started in law. But she had decades of fame as a Texas Senator after that.
Bunny Orsak (Kitrik of the Kitrik show on KTRK) came to the station and worked with me for about a year. As a kid in Baytown, I watched Kitrik every day after school and asked my mom to take me to the show on my birthday so I could ride the carousel but it never happened. I told Bunny I was absolutely thrilled to be working with her and she was a real joy!
I was in the studio with Senator Proxmire for two weeks while he and others hammered out a presentation of the Truth in Lending Act, which was a great thing for consumers. One day I had the lovely Peggy Fleming and her mother in the studio just after she won the Ladies Singles Olympic ice skating gold medal. She was a skating commentator for 20 years after that. That's the sort of thing I loved about working in radio - interesting celebrities and talent coming in every day. Nothing after that could come close to working in broadcasting.
