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

otr Digest				Volume 96 : Issue 389

Table Of Contents: 

	 GUIDING LIGHT
	 John Britt Reid
	 Anyone buy the Jay Hickerson "History of Radio" book?
	 Clifford D. Simak
	 THE LONE RANGER
	 Re: CLIFFORD D. SIMAK
	 Adventures In Cassette [removed]
	 music till dawn
	 Clifford Simak
	 Superman/Dr. Roebling

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

Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 08:53:33 -0400
From: OTRDSIEGEL@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: GUIDING LIGHT
Message-ID: <961014085331_333309555@[removed]>

In response to an inquiry I offer the following observations:

  Best of luck to you on your search for additional GUIDING LIGHT eps.  I
have been collecting otr for years and found very few old soap operas that
had as many episodes available as GUIDING LIGHT (791 thru 988). The others
that I can recall are  (NOTE: all on open reel, 6 hrs or 24 eps. per reel)
AMERICAN FAMILY ROBINSON (4 reels), AUNT MARY (19 reels), BACKSTAGE WIFE (7
reels), BIG SISTER (3 1/2 reels), COUPLE NEXT DOOR (28 reels), EASY ACES (12
reels), GUIDING LIGHT (your favorite = 9 reels),  MAMA BLOOM'S BROOD (3 1/2
reels), MA PERKINS (11 reels), LIFE OF MARY SOUTHERN (8 reels), MYRT AND
MARGE (5 reels), ONE MAN'S FAMILY (16 reels), PEPPER YOUNG'S FAMILY (4 reels)
and YOUNG WIDDER BROWN (11 reels). All of the other soaps that are in
circulation (and there are lots of them) are available with anywhere from one
episode to a dozen or so not always connected episodes. There is little logic
to the rational for these circumstances. Should you ever find more GUIDING
LIGHT programs I would be pleased to hear from you. Indeed I have a few
additional programs from the series but they are not consequitive.  Dave
Siegel

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

Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 09:33:55 -0600
From: Chet Cox <CHCOX@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: John Britt Reid
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>

About six months ago, when I expressed my personal belief (we each
create background for stories, which make them so personal) that the
Lone Ranger's first name had once been Britt, I was given enough
evidence to convince me that it had, sadly, been John.  Darned if I
remember the evidence now, though.

Still, since OTR is the 2nd most subjective entertainment (beaten out only
by the printed word), I hereby declare that, in my imagination, his middle
name was Britt.  And that, whenever he disguised himself as the Old
Prospector (a favorite of Clayton Moore's, which is why it became the
Ranger's most frequent disguise on TV), he used the name "Britt."  And
_that_ would be the name which Dan Reid would remember for his
outlandish uncle - and the name he would give his own son.  (And if the
Hornet TV show & NOW comics are taken into consideration, THAT
Britt's grandson.)

---in the tradion of Robert Bruce Banner and David Bruce [removed]

*jeep!
~~~~Chet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quote of the day:  "It is dangerous to be sincere
unless you are also stupid."  --George Bernard Shaw

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

Date: Mon, 14 Oct 96 05:08:22
From: cmarvel@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Anyone buy the Jay Hickerson "History of Radio" book?
Message-Id: <m0vClsp-0000AXC@[removed]>

All:
    Has anyone bought the Jay Hickerson "History of Radio Network
Programming" book?  I am interested in buying it but was wondering what it
was like.  $49 (with p/h) is alot of money to me and I want to make sure
that it seems to be worth the money.  Thanx for any help.

Keith

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

Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 10:19:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: Thomas Krabacher <tsk@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Clifford D. Simak
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

John Pellatt requested some background information on Cliff SimaK, so 
here goes:

(Please excuse any minor errors that creep in here. I'm workin from 
memory at the moment.)

Simak was one of the first and longest running writers of modern science 
fiction.  (Only Jack Williamson, who is still alive and currently writing, 
has a longer track record as far as I know.)  Simak began publishing 
science fiction in the magazines in the late 1920s (his first story was a 
short entitled "Ring Around the Sun" in 1928 or thereabouts, if memory 
serves) and in the 1930s he published standard space opera in the 
doc Smith mode such as his novel THE COSMIC ENGINEERS.  He achieved his 
lasting fame, however, for the gentler, more thoughtful stories he began 
to produce, starting in the early 1940s.  He's probably the only sf 
writer I know of whose stories could accurately be described as 
"pastorial." His best known work is his collection of 
inter-related short stories, CITY, one of which, "Desertion",
ranks among the all-time great science fiction short stories.  He won the 
Hugo awatrde at least twice, once for the novel WAYSTATION in the 1960s, 
and once in the late 70's/early 80s for his short story "Cave of the 
Dance Deer" (I think I remember the title correctly).  His fiction is 
also known for his frequent use of robots, often in a puckish, rather 
endearing manner. [I remember seeing him on a panel with Isaac Asimov on 
"Robots in Science Fiction" at a convention in Washington DC in back 
in 1973 or 74.  In "real life" Simak was a newspaper man in Minneapolis, 
working first as a reporter than eventually editor.  He was publishing sf 
novels regularly at a rate of about one per year up until the time of his 
death in the mid-1980s.

Hope this is of use. 

Tom Krabacher

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

Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 14:27:37 -0400
From: BCH66@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: THE LONE RANGER
Message-ID: <961014142735_333521502@[removed]>

What became of Brace Beemer post THE LONE RANGER? And how did he feel that
from 1949-54 everyone considered Clayton Moore as the Ranger when Brace had
long been associated with the role even appearing on BING CROSBY in Jan 1948
IN CHARACTER.
How about the radio work schedule -- did that change over the years ?
For instance everyone says that early shows demanded three performances.
Probably after the war the live Eastern show was probably just replayed for
western audiences thus not requiring so much from Mr.  Beemer. What about the
end of the "LIVE' run --
were the shows always live or did they eventually get transcribed?

I know ABC was far more active in recording shows than the other 
networks. First with Bing Crosby . But they very involved in recording shows
for the purpose of time shifting. For example when 
BoB Hope   transcribed his tuesday night show this did not alter the feed
pattern at all . NBC just played the recording at 9 or 10 pm 
EST .( which of course meant 6 or 7 pm on the pacific coast) . ie ..
NBC did not change its network schedules with the advent of tape. 

ABC was different . They must have thought it was a competitive
edge. They redesigned their whole feeds. Shows such as Bing Crosby at 10pm (
traditionally would be 9 cst 8 mst 7 pst ) were fed to the network at 9 cst 9
mst 9 pst. Whole schedules were redesigned  out west with the advent of tape
- but only on ABC.

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

Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 21:01:31 -0400
From: SanctumOTR@[removed]
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Re: CLIFFORD D. SIMAK
Message-ID: <961014210129_210920016@[removed]>

The late Clifford D. Simak was one of the grandmasters of science fiction and
a longtime friend and co-worker of both myself and my father.  I'll try and
provide additional biographical info after the FOTR convention is over.
 Cliff began selling stories to the sf pulp magazines circa 1931 and remained
a major force in science fiction until his death in the 1980s.  I don't
recall the year of his death at the moment but he died about two weeks before
Robert E. Heinlein.  Cliff's most famous works were his novel WAY STATION
(which beat out Frank Herbert's DUNE to win --deservedly-- a Hugo award for
best sf novel of the year) and CITY (an award-winning collection of short
stories about the robots and evolved dogs who inherit the earth after mankind
takes off for other planets).  Clifford D. Simak spent most of his life as a
journalist (City Editor of the Minneapolis Star and later Science Editor of
the Minneapolis Tribune) and wrote his wonderful science fiction stories in
his spare time.  Cliff was probably the first modern science fiction author
to bring humanity and warmth into his stories.  It was Cliff who inspired
Isaac Asimov to write science fiction.  You can read more about Cliff Simak
in any history of modern science fiction and sf writers and in Asimov's
autobiographies ... and be sure to read WAY STATION and CITY, at the very
least.  I'm pretty sure both are still in print as paperbacks. -- Anthony
Tollin

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

Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 20:40:58 -0500 (CDT)
From: wdp (AIRWAVES MEDIA)
To: otr@[removed] (Old Time Radio)
Subject: Adventures In Cassette [removed]
Message-Id: <m0vCyV9-000k07C@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Length:       3388

In my last posting on this matter of the slam and flame against the
vendor Adventures In Cassette, I said that I wanted no further
commentary on this unfortunate incident.  However in private email, I
and my co-administrator - Lou Genco, received email from Sue Hamilton,
manager of Adventures In Cassette (AIC) expressing her desire to set
the records straight,, or at least offer some rebuttal to the attack
her company received.

Since AIC is the potentially injured party in this fiasco, I have
decided to post her comments here in an effort to mitigate any
lingering bad feelings that Mr. Dougherty's post may have caused.

I still maintain that all further discussion should be in private
email, to the affected parties, and *NOT* in this digest.
I would also like to mention that I, and Lou, have received numerous
letters from satisfied customers of AIC, saying that Sean's account
was totally opposite of their experience. 

Here is Sue's message to em, which she has asked to be sent to the
list.

William Pfeiffer
Administrator: Old Time Radio Digest
wdp@[removed]
Web: [removed]

Forwarded message:
} From AIC4Radio@[removed]  Mon Oct 14 12:51:46 1996
} Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 13:51:11 -0400
} From: AIC4Radio@[removed]
} To: wdp@[removed]
} Subject: I'd like to [removed]
} 
} Bill -
} 
} I've been talking to Lou on how to handle the "flaming" by Mr. Dougherty & I
} know Lou has copied you on his letter to me (as I am now also copying Lou).
} My staff and I have come up with a response (below). I know it is
} inappropriate for the theme of the Digest, but this really surprised and hurt
} all of us in AIC. I'd feel remiss if I didn't respond somehow.  If it should
} be shorter, I'd like to keep the first and last paragraphs. That kind of says
} it all.
} 
} May I post it? 
} 
} Sue
} ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
} --------------------------
} Hello Everyone:
} 
} Mr. Dougherty certainly created an unpleasant surprise for all of us at AIC
} in his letter Issue #386. I cannot address specifically what happened to his
} "friend," since I do not have the person's name or date of transaction.
} 
} What I can address is our current operation:
} 
} -- Our Customer Service Department follows strict guidelines: Orders are
} processed within 24 hours. Recent customer surveys indicate most orders are
} received in 5-10 days.
} 
} -- We average less than 2% of backorders on inventory at any time. 
} 
} -- Our experienced Customer Service Manager, Barbara Cook, is available to
} customers just by asking for her at 1-800-328-0108 (except this week when she
} will be in Newark at the FOTR Convention). In her absence, Judy and Jo are
} equally able to assist our customers.
} 
} -- Adventures in Cassettes DOES NOT employ a collection agency nor has it
} employed one for over 7 years. We have such a miniscule number of problems in
} that area, it is not needed.
} 
} We consider our customers some of the nicest, friendliest people we've ever
} met--many of whom we simply deem "our friends." It's a pleasure to come to
} work--to enjoy old time radio, to learn and to laugh. If any of our customers
} experience a problem with our service or our products, we make it right. IT
} IS GUARANTEED.
} 
} Sue Hamilton, PROUD MGR 
} Adventures in Cassettes
} AIC4Radio@[removed]
} [removed]
} 

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

Date: 14 Oct 96 22:17:07 EDT
From: Michael Berger <[removed]@[removed]>
To: otr <otr@[removed]>
Subject: music till dawn
Message-ID: <[removed]@[removed]>

Re: Music 'Till Dawn

I used to listen to that show on KCBS when I had a late night job 40 years [removed] I distinctly remember Ken Ackerman as the host. Is it possible that he is still doing this program in 1996, as Ron Hare's post seems to suggest?

I have a tape of a 33rd anniversary of KQW (the San Jose station of the early days which now is KCBS) and Ken Ackerman was one of the announcers on that [removed] in 1945!!! 

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

Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 23:15:42 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Cc: bs206@[removed]
Subject: Clifford Simak
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

John Pellatt wrote:
>Can anyone here enlighten me about the works of science fiction writer 
>Clifford D. Simak (what did he write, any biographical information, etc.)
>
>I'm pretty sure I recognize his name from X MINUS ONE.
>
>Recently I found two spoken word audio cassettes read by Johnathan Frakes 
>put out by Durkin Hayes featuring short s-f stories by Simak. I'm not a 
>big fan of talking books much prefering radio dramas but I really enjoyed 
>these. Wonder how they came about? (ie is Simak still around?)
>

First let me begin with a shameless plug for a book I co-wrote with Meade
Frierson: Science Fiction on Radio: A Revised Look at 1950-1975
You can get more information on the book at my web site: 
[removed]
The book will answer your questions about all of Simak's radio-related
stories plus give you some source material for the works which were adapted
for radio.

Now onto Simak, the man: Clifford D. Simak died in 1988 after a writing
career in sf that did not span his whole adult life. He was involved in
Newspaper publishing and only began really writing sf fulltime after he
retired. He did publish sf during his newspaper days, but really got turned
on to sf writing after being influenced by John W. Campbell (many a budding
writer were equally inspired by early-Campbell). 

Probably because he was a major writer in the Galaxy Magazine stable a
number of his short stories were produced by NBC Radio via either Dimension
X or X Minus One. Most have a nostalgic bent for longing of things past or
lost. The NBC produced stories include: Courtesy, Junkyard, How-2, Project
Mastedon, Drop Dead and Lulu. One of his best novels was City and its
lesser sequel, Huddling Place.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Widner                      INTERNET: jwidner@[removed]
Dayton, OH                      WWW: [removed]
COMPUSERVE: 74566,3041          
AOL: JimWidner                            

                                                 

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

Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 23:29:27 -0400
From: Jim Widner <jwidner@[removed]>
To: [removed]@[removed]
Subject: Superman/Dr. Roebling
Message-Id: <[removed]@[removed]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Charles Mazza asked:
>The episode "Dr. Roebling & The Voice Machine" is now playing at the Warner
>Bros. web site. What i find odd is that it is only 5 minutes long rather
>than the 15 minutes i was expecting. Does anyone know if this episode is
>indeed only 5 minutes long or is there a problem with the recording at the
site?
>

My copies all run approximately 12 minutes in length sans commercials.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Widner                      INTERNET: jwidner@[removed]
Dayton, OH                      WWW: [removed]
COMPUSERVE: 74566,3041          
AOL: JimWidner                            

                                                 




--------------------------------
End of otr Digest V96 Issue #389
********************************

