Subject: [removed] Digest V2009 #64
From: [removed]@[removed]
Date: 3/29/2009 9:14 PM
To: [removed]@[removed]
Reply-to:
[removed]@[removed]

------------------------------


                            The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                              Volume 2009 : Issue 64
                         A Part of the [removed]!
                             [removed]
                                 ISSN: 1533-9289


                                 Today's Topics:

  CHUCK McCANN alert!                   [ Anthony Tollin <sanctumotr@earthlin ]
  3-28 births/deaths                    [ Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed]; ]
  Re: OTR Books                         [ Stewart Wright <otrwash@[removed]; ]
  re: OTR Books                         [ Ben Ohmart <benohmart@[removed]; ]
  re: Fred Allen Update                 [ Ben Ohmart <benohmart@[removed]; ]
  Irving R. Levine                      [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  The price of books revisited          [ <otrbuff@[removed]; ]
  This week in radio history 29 March   [ Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed] ]
  Re: OTR Books                         [ Larry Husch <lshusch@[removed]; ]
  Derek Tague                           [ Ken Stockinger <bambino032004-otr@y ]
  Irving R. Levine, RIP                 [ jack and cathy french <otrpiano@ver ]
  Libraries Are Limited, Too            [ Stephen A Kallis <skallisjr@[removed] ]
  The Hummerts                          [ "Robert Birchard" <bbirchard@earthl ]

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:59:49 -0400
From: Anthony Tollin <sanctumotr@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  CHUCK McCANN alert!

Our FOTR friend Chuck McCann will be a guest on Mark Simone's SATURDAY NIGHT
OLDIES SHOW over New York's WABC Saturday evening, March 28. Chuck expects
to be on air around 6:15 Easter Time. --Anthony Tollin

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:59:55 -0400
From: Ron Sayles <bogusotr@[removed];
To: Olde Tyme Radio Digest Digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  3-28 births/deaths

March 28th births

03-28-1871 - Willem Mengelberg - Utrecht, Netherlands - d. 3-21-1951
composer, conductor: "The New York Philharmonic Orchestra"
03-28-1888 - Jim Harkins - d. 10-24-1970
emcee: "Song Writing Machine Series"
03-28-1890 - Paul Whiteman - Denver, CO - d. 12-29-1967
conductor: "Kraft Music Hall"; "George Burns and Gracie Allen Show"
03-28-1892 - Philip Loeb - Philadelphia, PA - d. 9-1-1955
actor: Jake Goldberg "The Goldbergs"
03-28-1896 - Abram E. Borodkin - Russia - d. 8-25-1978
cellist: NBC and CBS networks
03-28-1896 - Virginia Rea - Louisville, KY - d. xx-xx-1941
singer: Olive Palmer "Palmolive Hour"; "Rubinoff and His Orchestra"
03-28-1897 - Frank Hawks - Marshalltown, IA - d. 8-23-1938
flying ace: "Roads of the Sky"; "Time Flies"
03-28-1902 - Gordon Clifford - Providence, RI - d. 6-11-1968
songwriter: "The Rhythm Boys"
03-28-1903 - Rudolf Serkin - Eger, Bohemia - d. 5-8-1991
pianist: "Concert Hall"; "New York Philharmonic"
03-28-1904 - Day Keene - Illinois - d. 1-9-1969
writer: "Kitty Keene, Incorporated"; "Little Orphan Annie"
03-28-1907 - Jon Dodson - Richland, MO - d. xx-xx-1963
singer: (Member of the King's Men) "Fibber McGee and Molly"; "King's
Men"
03-28-1910 - Jimmy Dodd - Cincinnati, OH - d. 11-10-1964
singer, songwriter: "Lifebuoy Show"; "Command Performance"; "CBS Radio
Workshop"
03-28-1912 - Frank Lovejoy - The Bronx, NY - d. 10-2-1962
actor: Randy 'Lucky' Stone "Nightbeat"; Bill Weigand "Mr. and Mrs.
North"
03-28-1913 - Lucille Fletcher - NYC - d. 8-31-2000
dramatist: "Columbia Workshop"; "Suspense"; "Screen Guild Theatre"
03-28-1915 - Jay Livingston - McDonald, PA - d. 10-17-2001
composer: "Hollywood Calling-George Fisher Interviews"
03-28-1915 - Joel Murcott - d. 2-26-1978
writer, director: "Tales of the Texas Rangers"; "Yours Truly, Johnny
Dollar"
03-28-1917 - Randy Brooks - Sandford, ME - d. 3-21-1967
bandleader: "One Night Stand"; "The Kate Smith Hour"
03-28-1918 - John Heath - Seattle, WA
actor: "Sherlock Holmes"; "Murder is My Hobby"
03-28-1919 - Vic Raschi - West Springfield, MA - d. 10-14-1988
baseball pitcher: "National Guard Show"
03-28-1921 - Dirk Bogarde - London, England - d. 5-8-1999
actor: "A Christmas Carol"
03-28-1922 - Lutrelle F. Palmer - Newport News, VA - d. 9-12-2004
news analyst: "Lu's Notebook"
03-28-1922 - Paul Bartell - Milwaukee, WI - d. 2-19-2006
announcer, disk jockey: "Blue Baron Show"; "Fox Club"
03-28-1924 - Freddie Bartholomew - London, England - d. 1-23-1992
guest: "Anchors Aweigh"
03-28-1925 - Jerry Walter - Illinois - d. 2-11-1979
actor: Gil Perry "Island Adventure"
03-28-1927 - Marguerite Campbell - Winnipeg, Canada - d. 3-19-2003
singer: "Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge"

March 28th deaths

01-25-1923 - Rusty Draper - d. 3-28-2003
country singer: "Dude Martin's Radio Ranch"
01-26-1905 - Maria von Trapp - Vienna, Austria-Hungary - d. 3-28-1987
singer: (Trapp Family Singers) "Christmas Seal Sale"
02-16-1902 - Leif Eid - Idaho - d. 3-28-1976
nbc bureau chief: Washington, Ottawa and Paris
02-26-1911 - Warren M. Lewis - d. 3-28-1997
producer: "Silver Theatre"; "Stars Over Hollywood"
04-16-1921 - Peter Ustinov - London, England - d. 3-28-2004
actor: "Freedom Forum"; "Mitch Miller Show"; "In Any Direction"
04-19-1913 - Sylvia Froos - New York - d. 3-28-2004
singer: "Sylvia Froos Show"; "Fred Allen Show"
05-05-1890 - Christopher Morley - Haverford, PA - d. 3-28-1957
author: "Information, Please"; "Hallmark Playhouse"; "Studio One"
05-14-1902 - Rush Hughes - d. 3-28-1979
host: Pot O' Gold"
05-28-1888 - Jim Thorpe - Prague, Indian Territory - d. 3-28-1953
all around athelete: "Shell Chateau"; "Bill Stern Colgate Sports
Newsreel"
06-08-1902 - Elliott Jacoby - NYC - d. 3-28-1977
composer, conductor: "Rudy Vallee Show"; "Maude's Diary"
06-17-1921 - Tony Scott - Morristown, NJ - d. 3-28-2007
jazz clarinetist: American Armed Forces Radio
07-04-1909 - Alec Templeton - Cardiff, South Wales - d. 3-28-1963
pianist, satirist: "You Shall Have Music"; "Universal Rhythm"; "Alec
Templeton Time"
07-15-1905 - Dorothy Fields - Allenhurst, NJ - d. 3-28-1974
lyricist: "Music for Millions"
07-19-1914 - Hubert Gregg - London, England - d. 3-28-2004
host: "Thanks for the Memory for 30 Years"
07-26-1919 - Virginia Gilmore - El Monte, CA - d. 3-28-1986
actor: "The Ford Theatre"
07-28-1914 - Carman Dragon - Antioch, CA - d. 3-28-1987
conductor: "Maxwell House Coffee Time"; "Baby Snooks Show"; "Railroad
Hour"
08-04-1901 - Mildred Henry Merrill - d. 3-28-1995
writer: "Lone Ranger"; "Green Hornet"; "Official Detective"
08-24-1898 - Malcolm Cowley - Belsano, PA - d. 3-28-1989
speaker: "NBC University Theatre"
09-13-1918 - Dick Haymes - Buenos Aires, Argentina - d. 3-28-1980
singer, actor: Dick Haymes Show"; "Tommy Dorsey Show"; Crane Dockery
"I Fly Anything"
09-18-1886 - Powel Crosley, Jr. - Cincinnati, OH - d. 3-28-1961
owner of WLW radio station in Cincinnati
10-14-1890 - Dwight David 'Ike' Eisenhower - Abilene, KS - d. 3-28-1969
general, president: "War Production Drive Program"; "Let's All Back
the Attack"
10-15-1929 - Art James - d. 3-28-2004
announcer: Armed Forces Radio
11-16-1873 - W. C. Handy - Florence, AL - d. 3-28-1958
jazz trumpeter, composer: "Cavalcade of Music";"Freedom's People"
11-22-1900 - Alan Cameron - Anderson, IN - d. 3-28-1972
writer: "Suspense"
12-08-1888 - Raymond Lawrence - Bedford Square, England - d. 3-28-1976
actor: "Escape"; "The Halls of Ivy"; "Pursuit"
12-29-1904 - Wendell Niles - Twin Valley, MN - d. 3-28-1994
announcer: "Bob Hope Show"; "Man Called X"; "Hollywood Star Playhouse"
xx-xx-1883 - Al Swenson - Salt Lake City, UT - d. 3-28-1941
actor: "Captain Diamond "Advs. of Captain Diamond"; Paul Hutchinson
"Hilltop House"

Ron

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:00:29 -0400
From: Stewart Wright <otrwash@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: OTR Books

Frank McGurn wrote:

I would love to read these books, but the
library in my area don't  have any of the
titles I read about. Why?

You may want to investigate another no-cost way of gaining access to OTR
books.  Check with your Library and see if they participate in an
Inter-Library Loan Program.

Your Library may be able to get you access to OTR books from other libraries
via Inter-Library Loans.

Signing off for now,

Stewart Wright

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:00:36 -0400
From: Ben Ohmart <benohmart@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  re: OTR Books

I agree with you about the high price of books - not just OTR ones - these
days. The thing I'm complimented Most on here at BearManor Media is our low
prices. Even we have to set them higher, though, if the page count is high.
Our printer charges by the page, FYI.

Please do go to your local library, or just call them up on the phone, and
request that they buy a book. They can order BM books thru Ingram, the large
wholesaler, with no trouble. But someone has to Request most of these
non-mainstream books. A lot of libraries even have forms you can fill out
online to request stuff.

Ben Ohmart

Old radio. Old movies. New books.
[removed]

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:00:42 -0400
From: Ben Ohmart <benohmart@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  re: Fred Allen Update

This is a BIG project, so it's going slowly. I actually want it to be 1 part
of "the complete writings of Fred Allen" but I'm not sure if I'll be able to
find everything. I could use someone in Boston to double check material for
me sometime. My wife and I took a trip there to start the ball rolling with
the Boston Public Library, who owns all of Fred's stuff, but I'll need a
double-checker at some point to make sure I got it all. Thanks for asking.

Ben Ohmart

Old radio. Old movies. New books.
[removed]

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:00:50 -0400
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Irving R. Levine

It was gratifying on Friday's edition of "NBC Nightly News" to hear Brian
Williams salute the career of electronic newsman Irving R. Levine, one of
his predecessors in the long line of distinguished NBC journalists. A few
snippets of some of the events and contributions that put him up there in
the strain, although possibly with lesser fame, alongside veteran NBC
colleagues Morgan Beatty, Pauline Frederick, H. V. Kaltenborn, Robert
McCormick and Lowell Thomas was worth a great deal, showing that TV can
still recall some of those whose claim to fame began in radio.

Levine, who served NBC 45 years, Williams noted, eventually focused on
economics, "a field for which we have a whole network today."  The early
newsman is profiled in my new volume "This Day in Network Radio"
([removed], 800-253-2187).
He was born Aug. 26, 1922, at Pawtucket, R. I., and launched his career at
The Providence Journal-Bulletin.  He was subsequently bureau chief for
International News Service at Vienna.  That set the tone for many of his
pursuits; before retirement, much of his time was spent overseas for NBC,
including four years in Moscow, 10 in Rome, two in Tokyo, and a year in
London.  A whole lot of his later epoch was spent in the nation's capital,
some of it for PBS.

It was good to see this old soldier get his just desserts, and nothing was
better than to hear him sign off a radio-TV news snippet with his familiar
nasal-twang tagline:  "Irving R. Levine ... NBC News ... Washington."  Can't
you just hear the Monitor beacon coming up in the background now?

Jim Cox

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:02:59 -0400
From: <otrbuff@[removed];
To: <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  The price of books revisited

I look at the  price of these books and they are very expensive
so I will never be able to afford to buy any

 From time to time thoughtful digesters help those of us who produce radio
tomes to keep our feet planted on terra firma.  Particularly are we reminded
how difficult it is to muster discretionary dollars in the current economic
climate.  Only rarely do I attempt to clarify my own position, and perhaps
that of some peers, when I read legitimate observations like this.  It
brings no joy that there are many among us who are trying to keep the wolf
away from the door while struggling to do it.  The standard of living for
many of us has likely been reduced considerably as we wonder about our
futures.

I fully understand that these books with their limited appeal (hence,
commensurate high costs) are out of reach for some.  That is invariably the
case.  The alternative, from my standpoint, is to not produce them and then
nobody has access to them.  That doesn't seem to satisfy a need either for
those who read them or write them.

The literal pennies we "earn" after our investment in equipment, supplies,
communications, travel, photo-renting, proofreading, research materials,
mailing and shipping, limited marketing and miscellaneous is inevitably
subsidized big time by the pockets of most (if not all) radio scribes.  Our
"income," of course, pays for not a single minute of the thousands of hours
"given" of our time.  I think most digesters probably have caught on to this
a long time ago.

Some of us who don't self-publish could reduce the prices of our books
(which we are not consulted on) by self-publishing.  Having been down that
road three decades ago, I said, "Never again."  That turns into a full time
enterprise that significantly reduces a writer's time to pursue his passion
while necessitating untold headaches from the legalities of operating a
business (with both local and state governments), putting up cash in advance
for printing, incessant marketing time and associated costs, mailing almost
daily, and the commensurate worries of "will I ever sell all this stuff, get
my money back and have room to walk in this house again?"  Life is too short
for those hassles, I concluded years ago.

I'm sympathizing completely with those who can't afford radio books.  I wish
the market was so demanding that Borders and Books-A-Million and Barnes &
Noble and other major chains put our kind of stuff on their shelves, thereby
making them accessible at a more affordable price.  Ain't gonna happen.
Narrowly-focused works go to a limited market and are bought by a handful
willing to pay for them.

You are right to remind us from time to time our product is out of reach for
some.  The alternative, from my standpoint, is to fail to make it available
to anybody.  And that would leave the hobby devoid of a profusion of
materials that document an era we honor, often created by people who
experienced it as it happened.

Jim Cox

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:03:05 -0400
From: Joe Mackey <joemackey108@[removed];
To: otr-digest <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  This week in radio history 29 March to 4 April

 From Those Were The Days

3/29

1932   Jack Benny appeared on radio for the first time. He agreed to
join then newspaper columnist, Ed Sullivan, on his interview show.

1937   The serial, Our Gal Sunday, debuted. The question, "Can this girl
from a small mining town in the West find happiness as the wife of a
wealthy and titled Englishman?" was asked each day for next 22 years.

3/30

1936   The serial Backstage Wife made a move across the dial from the
Mutual Broadcasting System to NBC. Once there, the program continued to
air for the next 23 years.

1945   The Dreft Star Playhouse was heard for the final time. The show
had been paying up to $3,000 per week to attract name talent.

1946   Academy Award was heard for the first time. The first dramatized
story was titled, Jezebel and starred actress Bette Davis.

3/31

1937   Phil Harris recorded one of his best known songs, That's What I
Like About the South.

1953   Cavalcade of America was heard for the final time on network
radio. It had been the longest running show of its kind. Cavalcade of
America presented dramatized events in American history for 18 years.

4/1

1941   The first contract for advertising on a commercial FM station
began on W71NY in New York City.

1949   The first all black cast variety show,Happy Pappy was presented
on WENR TV in  Chicago, IL.

4/2

1947   The Big Story was first heard on NBC. It stayed on the air for
eight years.

4/3

1939   Mr. District Attorney was heard for the first time on NBC. The
serial about the 'champion of the people' was originally a 15 minute
nightly program. In June of 1939, the program went to a half hour weekly
format. Mr. District Attorney aired until 1952.

1942   People Are Funny was first heard on NBC.
1949   Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis debuted on NBC.

4/4

1938   After seven years of singing on the radio, Kate Smith began a new
noontime talk show.

Joe

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:03:21 -0400
From: Larry Husch <lshusch@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Re: OTR Books

In response to Frank McGurn's note yesterday about his library not
having OTR books, you should check to see if other libraries in the same
system as your library has the books that you want and, if so, if they
will deliver those books at your branch.  Also, check to see if your
library offers Interlibrary loan services from which these books can be
obtained from other libraries across the country. The third possibility
is to join an old time radio club as Metropolitan Washington Old Time
Radio Club which has a lending library.

Larry Husch

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:03:29 -0400
From: Ken Stockinger <bambino032004-otr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Derek Tague
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Hi everyone,
     I wanted to pass along some sad news I just got. Derek Tague's
mother Gweneth passed away at 8am this morning. She
was 83 yrs old. As you may have known, she had been ill for quite a few
years.
Derek is holding up as well as can be expected.  Arrangements are pending.
Thanks.
                                                        Ken

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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:03:34 -0400
From: jack and cathy french <otrpiano@[removed];
To: OTRBB <[removed]@[removed];
Subject:  Irving R. Levine, RIP

The bow-tied NBC correspondent for forty five years, Irving R.
Levine, died March 27th in a Washington, DC hospice at age 86. A
native of Rhode Island, he  served in WW II with the Army Signal
Corps in Japan and the Philippines. After getting a MA in journalism
from Columbia in 1947, he became a foreign correspondent for the now
defunct International News Service, paying his own way to Europe, and
later being assigned to Japan.

In 1950 he signed on as a stringer for NBC radio, covering the Korean
War and found himself the only network correspondent reporting the
Inchon landing because the [removed] Navy imposed radio silence on the
other network personnel, all of who were aboard Naval ships. In 1955
he and a group of Iowa farmers were able to tour Siberia and later
Levine convinced the Soviets to let him open an NBC bureau in Moscow.
He was there for four years and then transferred to Italy. His advice
to tourists: "If you really want to enjoy Italy, spend four years in
Russia first."

Overseas, both on NBC radio and television, he covered the Sputnik
launch, the building of the Berlin Wall, and the 1960s uprising in
the Belgian Congo. His characteristic old-fashioned delivery and his
insistence on keeping his middle initial in his sign-off made him a
distinctive and popular personality. On busy news days, NBC was
struggling to shave every second so that his typical sign-off,
"Irving R. Levine, NBC News, Rome" took too long, especially when he
made "Rome" a three syllable word. He was asked to drop the middle
"R" in his name in his program to save time. "I'd rather drop the "B"
in NBC" he replied.

He was survived by his wife of 52 years, Nancy, three children, a
sister, and three grandchildren, all of whom use their middle initial.

Jack French
Editor: RADIO RECALL
<[removed]>

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:04:39 -0400
From: Stephen A Kallis <skallisjr@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  Libraries Are Limited, Too

Frank McGurn  posts,

I would love to read these books, but the library in my area don't  have
any  of the titles I read [removed]

I suspect that many libraries are cash-strapped, and they obtain many
books to satisfy public demand for books that they might read once that
are too expensive to buy personal copies of.  Sometimes a library may
have a copy or two for an entire district, available through an
"inter-library loan."   This might preclude a local listing for a
specific book, though one might be obtained through a more extensive
search of a library's extended resources.

I look at the  price of these books and they are very expensive so I will
never be able to afford to buy any

Regrettably, library systems, too, have limited resources.  It might be
that some arrangement could be made with a library system to obtain
reference copies of some of these books, but that would require that they
couldn't be checked out to be read at a patron's home.

Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 23:06:05 -0400
From: "Robert Birchard" <bbirchard@[removed];
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject:  The Hummerts
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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Jim Cox wrote about Frank and Anne Hummert:

     "Those two were notorious, as we have previously discovered, in taking
whatever was available and adapting it to their needs. Thus came stories for
David Harum and other characters based on heroes of films, novels, stage
plays, etc. Almost all of their theme songs were lifted from public domain
("How Can I Leave Thee?" for Stella, "The Rose of Tralee" for Backstage Wife,
"Funiculi Funicula" for Lorenzo Jones, "In the Gloaming" and "Wonderful One"
for Young Widder Brown, "Someday I'll Find You" for Mr. Keen . . .

     "Someday I'll Find you" was written by Noel Coward in 1930 for his show
"Private Lives."  It was definitely not PD--still isn't--when it bacame the
Mr. Keen theme song.

Bob Birchard

[removed]

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