Subject: [removed] Digest V2001 #255
From: "OldRadio Mailing Lists" <[removed]@[removed];
Date: 8/7/2001 7:29 PM

To: <[removed]@[removed];

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

                                The Old-Time Radio Digest!
                                  Volume 2001 : Issue 255
                             A Part of the [removed]!
                                     ISSN: 1533-9289

                                     Today's Topics:

      Kenny Baker on Railroad Hour          [ "Susan Olson" <susolson@[removed]; ]
      Water-Soaked Cassettes                [ GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@ ]
      Re: What is reality?                  [ Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed]; ]
      The Old WTCN Transmiiter              [ "jstokes" <jstokes@[removed]; ]
      CORNELL WOOLRICH                      [ "Mike Kerezman" <philipmarlowe@eart ]
      Long John Nebel                       [ "Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed] ]
      Re: Dennis Day                        [ "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@hotmail ]
      Re:Water Damage                       [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
      KMOX and OTR                          [ "igsjr@[removed]" <igsjr@[removed]; ]
      You Aren't There ....                 [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Penny Singleton, Terry Moore, Etc.    [ "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@nfoli ]
      Major Bowes Microphone                [ "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@ ]
      Clarification                         [ otrbuff@[removed] ]
      ELIZABETH McCLOUD                     [ "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed]; ]
      Canada Lee - an author's request      [ khovard@[removed] ]
      Stan Freberg                          [ Mike Ray <MRay@[removed]; ]
      water damage                          [ Fred Berney <berney@[removed]; ]
      Re: NARA - My NARA Experience         [ John <JOHN007@[removed]; ]

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 01:01:42 -0400
    From: "Susan Olson" <susolson@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Kenny Baker on Railroad Hour

    To Ed Carr,

    Thanks for thinking of me when you heard Kenny B. on the Railroad Hour show
    "The Mikado."  Kenny appeared in several RR Hour shows, including "The
    Student Prince" 10/25/48, "Blossom Time" (both 1/24/49 and 10/31/49), "The
    Mikado" 12/5/49 and "[removed] Pinafore" 3/6/50.  I do have that Mikado show,
    by the way ... and the DVD of the 1939 movie "The Mikado," in Technicolor!,
    starring Kenny Baker, which I HIGHLY recommend! <grin>

    Regards,
    Susan (kennyfan on IRC chat)

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 10:39:21 -0400
    From: GEORGE WAGNER <gwagneroldtimeradio@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Water-Soaked Cassettes

          I think the danger here would partly depend on
    the purity of the water.
          I've actually soaked very old REEL tapes in pure
    tap water overnight before playing them, with good
    results.
          And there's a great VIDEO tape story which may
    fit here. Several years back a group of suburban
    teenage housebreakers decided to videotape their
    "exploits." But when they afterwards realized how
    incriminating this videotape could be, they
    "destroyed" the tape by dropping it - sploosh! - into
    a creek.
         The tape was discovered a week or so later by two
    equally-young movie buffs who took the cartridge home
    to see what it contained. They let the tape dry for
    several days, watched it, and then took it directly to
    the police.
         The police knew several of the boys (they were
    scions of otherwise-respectable families), so invited
    them and their parents down to the stationhouse for a
    special showing.

         GWAGNEROLDTIMERADIO@[removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 10:39:23 -0400
    From: Michael Biel <mbiel@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re:  What is reality?

    Doug Leary <dleary@[removed]; questioned whether "using very old film
    footage to illustrate things that happened long before movies were
    invented" in TV documentaries might "influence people's perception of
    history" especially if they don't know that these events happened before
    the motion picture was invented.  Unfortunately the answer is yes, but
    the problem is even greater than that.

    Too many of these TV documentaries are actually produced by the
    entertainment divisions of the networks, or in the case of some of the
    cable outlets like The History Channel and Arts & Entertainment, outside
    independent production companies.  Therefore, the standards of accuracy
    that a News Division would require are often tossed out the window for
    the sake of "entertainment value."  After what I dealt with when
    consulting on a History Channel documentary on the history of "stereos"
    I have next to no respect for much of what this channel airs unless I
    see the credits FIRST.

    But visual images are only part of the problem.  There is a greater
    amount of dishonesty in the audio even on documentaries produced by the
    News Divisions.  I found out first hand when I was booed at a conference
    in Germany of the International Federation of Television Archives when I
    complained about the frauds we had just been shown in clips from
    documentaries produced by such otherwise esteemed institutions as
    Norwegian Television, Germany's ARD, and the holier-than-thou BBC.  They
    (supposedly) have professional standards of honesty in the visual images
    they broadcast that they totally disregard when it comes to the audio.
    Totally unnecessary phony sound effects are routinely added to silent
    film with total disregard to authenticity because even the News
    Divisions feel their programming must be entertaining.

    BUT--since we are discussing this on an OTR forum, let us not let OTR
    off the hook.  Remember "The March of Time" and "CBS/You Are There"?
    And that's only the tip of the iceberg.  Recreated historical AND
    current events was the norm in the OTR days.  The worst offender in
    terms of it coming back to haunt us again and again and again and again
    was Edward R. Murrow's "I Can Hear It Now" series of documentary LPs
    which mixed real and fake recordings without telling us which were
    which.  Even Robert Trout admitted to participating in the faking of the
    end of the war announcement on the album.

    We must be ever vigilant.  If you see fake film or hear fake
    audio--COMPLAIN.  I siced the [removed] onto ABC when they used some of
    Murrow's fake recordings on the Lindbergh episode of "The Century" and
    we forced them to change the on-screen titling on the re-runs and
    cassettes.  And they weren't happy about it.

    Michael Biel  mbiel@[removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 10:39:30 -0400
    From: "jstokes" <jstokes@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  The Old WTCN Transmiiter

    Loved the WOR "working from the trany" story of Lee Munsick.   "The Trany"
    is what our venerable CE (chief engineer) Caryl Force at WWTC called it.
    He was of Army Air Corps vintage and so tended to make a lot of comparisons
    to keeping the xmtrs on the air in his military service days.

    WWTC ("World Wide Twin Cities) was originally WTCN ("Twin Cities News"),
    Minneapolis.   Way back then, as now, it still is at 1280 on the AM dial
    with directional 5 KW coverage.  The towers are in a swamp in suburban St.
    Louis Park, not far from my house.   It was a real treat to take tower
    readings on a hot summer evening with the assortment of beavers and gosh
    knows what strange woodland/swamp creatures splashing about in the water.
    The CE used to joke to watch out for the alligators.

    The trany building was made of sturdy brick and housed the very popular old
    RCA 10,000 watt transmitter with one final RF ampifier tube taken out to
    make it 5 KW.   And there in the center of the room was yee olde Western
    Electric standby transmitter, the original WTCN xmtr.   It had an antique
    see-through lattice design that gave a view of all the components inside the
    cage.   There were old round meters for various stages of the transmitter.
    And black pointer knobs to switch to check various functions.

    The old transmitter would be fired up once a day to see if it still worked.
    And it sounded horrible, like it was powered by one of those old mobile
    multivibrators.   The modulated hum probably came from a combination of the
    old power supply with some old filter capacitors and/or some bad coupling
    audio frequency capacitors.

    This old trany could be powered with an emergency generator, which made it
    sound pretty good, except for a bit of hum.   When we had the tornado go
    through downtown and the surrounding area back in 1967, the old WE xmtr was
    fired up and the old RCA WTCN turntables and RCA console were pressed into
    service.

    - -------------------------------------------------------------
    I surely enjoyed Lee Munsick's report on working the Long John show from the
    WOR transmitter.   As a draftee, I was stationed at Fort Jay, Governor's
    Island, New York, back in 1962-63.   And I recall hearing Jean Shepard late
    at night in the barracks before Long John.

    Those were great radio days in New York.   When I left NY in 63, there
    weren't too many years left of the great DJ days of WABC versu WMCA.

    And speaking of WMCA, I ONLY fly from Mpls/St. Paul to the Newark airport
    for several reasons.   One of them is the shuttle trip that takes us past
    the old WMCA transmitter with towers that look like they are stuck in the
    water.  :)   There's a very good web site on WMCA.   Use the word search on
    your browser to access it.

    Another reason for flying into Newark is the spectacular view of New York,
    that reminds me so much as the opening credits view from the movie "Marjory
    Morningstar."    And then the New Jersey turnpike ride and winding up on the
    west side of Manhattan.

    Jim Stokes,
    who loves New York.
    NaturaLite Pictures

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 10:41:15 -0400
    From: "Mike Kerezman" <philipmarlowe@[removed];
    To: "OTR DIGEST" <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  CORNELL WOOLRICH

    It important to remember Woolrich work pervades OTR when one considers his
    pen names. For Example, The ESCAPE show "Papa Benjamin" is credited to
    William Irish which was a pen name of [removed] ESCAPE yarn "Finger of
    Doom" starring Mr. Harry Bartell is another. Much of Woolrich work is hard
    to find, however BORDERS now carries a trade paperback entitled "The Cornell
    Woolrich Omnibus" for $[removed]

    A few years ago there I stumbled on website that listed all Woolrich's work
    adapted for Radio. Some of it on lesser known shows such as Molle Mystery
    Theater but I have forgotten the URL for it.

    Mike Kerezman

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 10:41:18 -0400
    From: "Art Shifrin" <goldens2@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Long John Nebel

    Lee,

    Thanks for reminding me of this wonderful series.  I used to spend alot of
    nights listening to him, on WOR and WNBC.  I epecially looked forward to
    those shows in which "ET" (extra terrestrial) subjects were discussed.  Two
    particular shows that I recall demonstrate the breadth of the subject matter
    that could be covered.  One was a very long and comprehensive interview he
    did wth Billy Rose.    Another was with a chap who (as I understand, this
    was a put on) stridently advocated that animals were trousers!  A third has
    seriously affected me to this day.  He did a show one of whose guests
    included Frank Driggs, who was promoting his Columbia Records anthology "The
    Original Sounds Of The 20's".  I'd never before heard such original
    recordings, and was utterly captivated by whatever they played that night.
    I bought the album almost immediately thereafter, and slid into a life of
    'anachronistic music'.  I still have the album: we know how to play 78s much
    better now, but the packaging of Frank's productions were fabulous: big 12"
    x 12" books with greaet photographs and commentaries.  "The Original Sounds
    Of Harlem" is a masterpeice!  These in turn, resulted in my discovery of
    pre-TV radio programming.

    So, for me, Nebel was a source of epiphany!

    What was that spooky sci-fi musical theme he used?

    Best,
    Shiffy

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 10:41:20 -0400
    From: "Dave Walter" <fredallenfan@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: Dennis Day

    fran-nik@[removed] (S G) writes:

>     Could you tell me if Dennis Day, of the Jack Benny Show, and Dennis Day,
>     the game-show host, were one and the same?

    Are you sure you're not thinking of the late game show host Dennis James
    here?

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 10:41:23 -0400
    From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re:Water Damage

    There is a company in Ohio that specializes in this kind of repair. I'll
    get their address and phone number and post it later.
    Fred
    For the best in Old Time Radio Shows [removed]
    New e-commerce page [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 10:41:41 -0400
    From: "igsjr@[removed]" <igsjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  KMOX and OTR

    Bob Watson observed:

>     KMOX did indeed host some OTR programming back in the 70's on Sunday
>     nights. As a matter of fact, I attribute KMOX with introducing me to old
>     time radio,
>     because it was KMOX that my Mom accidently turned to and instead of
>     getting
>     a weather report, got Jack Benny and Rochester.

    Boy, does this bring back memories -- I used to tune into KMOX's Sunday
    Night Comedy-Mystery Theatre with Jack Carney back in 1978 as [removed]
    course, I was listening to KMOX from Ravenswood, [removed] mean feat,
    since I experienced a lot of frustrating fade-out from time to [removed]
    also enjoyed the fact that KMOX broadcast The CBS Radio Mystery Theatre
    at 9:00pm (my time) because the Charleston, WV station that carried it
    threw it away in an 11 o'clock [removed] time slot, and I wasn't allowed to
    stay up that [removed]

>     Sunday nights were never the same for me.

    (sigh) Me [removed]

    Ivan

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 10:42:06 -0400
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  You Aren't There ....

    Doug Leary notes, anent history,

>     To me one of the more interesting aspects of OTR, old movies and
>     television is the ways in which they influence people's perception of
>     history. We know there was no Captain Midnight, but it's difficult not to
>     give bits of fantasy equal weight with reality. Images from fiction
>     somehow become part of our perception of past times.

    That's because sometimes the hero, Captain Midnight or The Lone Ranger,
    for instance, come close to the archetype of their sort of hero -- the
    stuff of legends.  Anyone familiar with the stories of the Old West can
    see how the idea of a Lone Ranger is consonant with the spirit of those
    times.  Likewise, in the case of Captain Midnight, the idea of the type
    of an aviator of his sort matched well the exploits of pilots like World
    War II aces and prewar folk such as Charles Lindberg.

    Other examples might be less based on archetype people as times.  Pete
    Kelly's Blues worked well less because there might have been such a
    trumpeter-bandleader than that the music and atmosphere was a good match
    to the Prohibition Era.

> >     Wasn't there a real detective somewhere who had cases as thrilling and

    varied as Philip Marlowe? <<

    Yes. Alan Pinkerton, but he was a little earlier.  I don't think anyone
    did an OTR show on Pinkerton, though.

>     It has been said that religious paintings of the middle ages depicted
>     biblical characters as contemporary, not ancient people, because few
>     people of the middle ages had any real sense of history.

    This "messing with history" does indeed go _way_ back, though the
    parallel with the current practice isn't exact.  Possibly, the point is
    that unadulterated historical storytelling is probably impossible for
    anyone who didn't write the story at the time it was supposed to take
    place.  And even _that_ can be suspect, since the 19th Century dime
    novels of characters of the Old West hardly reflected these folks' actual
    biographies.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 10:42:48 -0400
    From: "Donald & Kathleen Dean" <dxk@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Penny Singleton, Terry Moore, Etc.

    In Digest #253 Jack French had this to say regarding Penny Singleton  -

>     The most recent item about her in my archives is last year's notice from
>     the USO that Singleton, age 92, appeared in a special program in Seoul,
>     Korea held in June 2000. This event, to mark the 50th anniversary of the
>     USO, also had Terry Moore, Johnny Grant, and Piper Laurie on the stage. Bob
>     Hope, 97, was too ill to attend. It was reported that "Blondie" got the
>     biggest applause of all the show-biz personalities.

    Thanks Jack for bringing back some memories from long ago. I got to see
    Penny Singleton in a USO show at K-47 Chunchon, Korea shortly after
    arriving there with the USAF in 1953. Also appearing on that same show
    was Meredith Macrae (wife of Gordon Macrae), and others but can't recall
    names now. I recall that during the show a red alert was sounded and the
    show ended abruptly when everyone scattered. I also got to see Terry Moore
    on her tour of Korea. She posed as I took a photo of her standing outside
    our mess hall. Unfortunately, she didn't have her ermine bathing suit on. :(
    Also, I got to see Marilyn Monroe. I was working in the radio van the day
    she arrived in the helicopters. I didn't get to see her perform but was able
    to
    get some photos of her as she came out of one of the quonset huts.

    Thanks Jack for stirring up those memories.
    Oh by the way, I saw your debut in the movie "Pecker". The movie was
    funny  but I loved the title they gave your character in the credits. ;)

    Don Dean N8IOJ

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 10:43:15 -0400
    From: "Stephen A Kallis, Jr." <skallisjr@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Major Bowes Microphone

    Harold Ziegler asks,

>     I was wondering if anyone out there has any info on a 'Major Bowes
>     Amateur Home Broadcasting Microphone"?   It stamped metal and pressed
>     together and is black with a gold grill.

    According to the Tumbusch Guide, there was such a "microphone," but while
    it was a premium, the one listed says, "w/decal, wood."

>     It's the kind you could hook up to a certain tube in your radio and
>     talk through your radio

    If the Tumbusch entry is correct, this might have been a different item.
    It's not beyond reason that in parallel with a wooden premium, or as a
    follow-up, there might have been a department-store item one could buy
    that could be attached to the audio stage of a radio.

    It's worth pointing out that during the OTR period, there were parallel
    OTR-related items available in stores.  There was, for example, a pair of
    salt-and-pepper shakers, one of Captain Midnight, and another of Joyce
    Ramsay, that were sold in stores but never offered as radio premiums
    (they don't look all that good, anyway).  There were Lone Ranger items
    like ball-point pen sets sold in dime stores contemporary with the OTR
    show.  And, a final example, there were Buck Rogers items that the Daisy
    Air Rifle folk built, that were sold while the OTR shows were airing.

    Stephen A. Kallis, Jr.

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 12:22:30 -0400
    From: otrbuff@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Clarification

    A well intentioned reader of this forum took my meaning of an earlier
    post a little further than I had intended.  He was shocked (in #254) over
    the "impending demise" of one of our para OTR organizations.  Aside from
    the fact the group lost several key officers and is on obvious shaky
    financial turf, I questioned whether its news journal would continue,
    even wondered if what we are learning means that the entity itself could
    be "precarious."  I didn't try to intimate that it is a done deal and it
    is going away, something we'll know in time.  Certainly that question
    forms in anyone's mind who is reading what has been mailed to the
    membership.  I hope this clarifies it.  My intention in surfacing it was
    to ask members to express their appreciation to those volunteer officers
    who have served so faithfully.

    Jim Cox

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 12:22:35 -0400
    From: "Owens Pomeroy" <opomeroy@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  ELIZABETH McCLOUD

    Dear Elizabeth,

    When ia the book coming out?  What book, you say?  Why the book you should
    be writing on all the postings and research on OTR that have appeared on the
    Digest.  I enjoy them emmensly, and do belive that there are a lot of OTR
    fans out there who do not have Computers and are not familiar with the OTR
    Digest, who wolud really enjoy your stories about OTR. Thanks for the
    memories.

    Owens Pomeroy

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 13:32:02 -0400
    From: khovard@[removed]
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Canada Lee - an author's request

    My friend, Frances is writing a book about her late husband, Canada Lee,
    the black actor. In connection with her research she is trying to obtain
    copies of the following radio shows (and in some cases obtain the dates
    of their  broadcasts). If need be, Frances will pay any reasponable
    amount for the copies of the shows.  If you can help in regard to one or
    more of these, please contact me

     1.    "The Big Story"               6/8/49

     2.    "Eight To The Bar" (7/24/41 -- (Frances has a copy of this one but
    it's in very  bad condition)

     3  'The Lionel Hampton'  Show with Canada Lee as [removed]     4/10/48?
    The date of 4/48, may  or may not be correct.

     4.      "Mollie Mystery" - Starring Canada Lee - WNBC, 2/13/48 --

     5.   'Llionel Hampton' Show with Canada Lee as [removed]  4/10/48 - WNEW
    (date?)

     6.      Destination Freedom-'We have Seen  Lincoln" Canada Lee as Ben
    Harper, date?

     7.   Frederick Douglas (with Canada Lee as Douglas)

      8.    What year did the American Negro Theatre do 'Scrooge'?  Frances
    just has an excerpt of this one

    Howard Blue

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 14:46:02 -0400
    From: Mike Ray <MRay@[removed];
    To: <[removed]@[removed];
    Subject:  Stan Freberg

    Hi Gang:

    I wanted to take a moment to wish Stan Freberg a happy
    Birthday. Today (August 7, 2001) will mark #75. Stan
    Not only gave us some of America's best radio satire,
    But was also known as the man who replaced Jack
    Benny On radio. As you know, Stan is still doing the
    Radio Thing as host of the very popular "When Radio Was"
    Program. It's a great kick To listen to Stan each day,
    As he continues to do an outstanding job behind the
    microphone. The program is produced by Our good friend
    Carl Amari at Radio Spirits and is heard
    Monday - Friday over 300 radio stations across the USA,
    And heard world wide on the internet each day at:
    <[removed];
    Give Stan a listen. He is one of our great treasures!

    Best regards,
    Mike Ray

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 14:46:04 -0400
    From: Fred Berney <berney@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  water damage

    Tom,

    Here is the company name to help with tapes that are damaged by water.

    NBO International, Inc.
    244 Myrtle Street
    Raverna, OH 44266

    330-296-0221

    We have a basement back up with water over a year ago. Thousands of tapes
    got wet. This company saved all of them.
    Fred
    For the best in Old Time Radio Shows [removed]
    New e-commerce page [removed]

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

    Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 21:30:11 -0400
    From: John <JOHN007@[removed];
    To: [removed]@[removed]
    Subject:  Re: NARA - My NARA Experience

    I must join Jim Cox and others in saluting Jim Snyder and other longtime
    NARA leaders who did their best in the midst of some very difficult
    situations in recent years.

    I was a member of NARA for about two years.  Since I was a tape
    collector at the time, I joined mainly because of the tape library,
    which at the time I joined was extremely well-operated (at least from
    the standpoint of customer service) by a husband-and-wife team.  For my
    first six months I was in "OTR heaven".

    However, about six months after I joined, the library was thrown into
    crisis (for reasons which --to my knowledge-- were never completely
    divulged to the membership).  It was subsequently taken over by a member
    who should have been in a position to offer good service, but in the end
    offered only a string of broken promises and unfilled orders.

    In hopes that this situation would improve (and realizing that this was
    a big transition and that the people involved were volunteers), I
    renewed my membership in good faith at the one year point, hoping that
    the new library would get it's act together over the course of the next
    year, as promised.  That didn't happen.  A full year later, at my
    two-year point, I still had received no rental tapes since the library's
    change in leadership, in spite of many follow up emails (the replies:
    lots of promises, no action).  After my second year (a year and a half
    of which had seen NO library service whatsoever), I dropped my
    membership.

    I must say, as an aside, that I did enjoy the publication, which I found
    to be of excellent quality.  In my case, however, as a newbie to OTR who
    was then trying to start a collection, I mainly needed the library, not
    the publication.

    At that time, I had a very long list of tapes I wanted to rent from the
    library and I had money in hand to do so (as did many other members I'm
    sure).  But the new librarian seemed to do little or nothing, so NARA
    didn't receive the money I was willing to spend.  I say this not as sour
    grapes, but to point out that what was likely a main potential source of
    money (the library) was left to flounder for a period of at least two
    years, as members became increasingly disappointed and frustrated -- and
    eventually became NON-members.

    More recently, about a year ago, I received a letter from Jim Snyder
    stating that there was an effort underway to resurrect the library,
    under different librarians (a couple, I believe) who promised prompt
    service, and indicating that NARA regretted the unfortunate past
    situation.  That was admirable,  but I suspect that it was likely "too
    little, too late" because many members, or ex-members like myself, had
    by then moved on to MP3 or .wav collecting and no longer wanted to
    invest heavily in tapes (much less gamble more membership money after
    being so sorely disappointed by the library after previously renewing in
    good faith).   The two years (that I know of) of library downtime must
    have cost NARA a lot of money in potential borrower fees not received.

    And in the end, the "library crisis" left a very bad taste in the mouths
    of a lot of otherwise appreciative NARA members, and a lot of them
    apparently left the organization.   The story is sad, as NARA once had a
    tape library second only to SPERDVAC (IMHO), and actually excelling the
    SPV library in a number of significant areas.

    I wrote to Jim Snyder several times during the library crisis, and
    always received a kind and courteous reply from him, for which I was
    appreciative.  But apparently at the time, he didn't feel they could
    take any immediate action to remedy the situation.

    Regardless, I certainly salute Jim and other NARA stalwarts who for
    years kept things afloat (and produced an outstanding OTR publication).
    I only lament that the once-great NARA library (which I suspect could
    have been a sustaining source of income had it been properly handled--
    libraries are often that for other OTR organizations) was instead the
    cause of such great disappointment and exodus of members.

    I fervently hope that the NARA library will be placed with an
    organization (perhaps such as SPERDVAC) who will endeavor to make the
    material widely available to the OTR community.  And hopefully other OTR
    organizations will learn from this sad story, so that it doesn't happen
    to them  -- which is why I hope the full story of the current situation
    will come out.

    I only wish that my NARA experience had happened several years earlier,
    when NARA had a well-run library for the benefit of members.  My first
    six months were wonderful; everything following was a nightmare.

    Happy Listening!
    John

    --------------------------------
    End of [removed] Digest V2001 Issue #255
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