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
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative
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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
    X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain

    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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