I
got my First Class Radio Telephone license at REI (Broadcasting school) in
Sarasota the summer after my sophomore year at Boone (High School, in Orlando).
I stayed with Gene Stuart and his
wife. He used to be the PD at WHOO before
going to Marathon to run WFFG when Blue Grass bought it. When I passed the
test in Miami, I came back to Orlando and started looking for a job.
Working for my father was not even considered (by him). So, I branched
out. When WTLN found out I
had the ticket and wasn't an alcoholic, yet, I got the job. I think they
paid me $2.50 an hour which was a lot of money in 1965. John
Wilcox was the GM, Jack Drummond
was the "sales manager." Wilcox had worked in Philadelphia and
was recruited by Tom Moffit, Sr.
to run WTLN. They played beautiful music, no live announcing during
the week. I don't recall if there was religious programming in the
morning. I worked on Saturday and Sunday and it seemed like at least on
Sunday, we played reel to reel tapes of various radio preachers who paid to be
on the station. One I recall was the Gospel Hour with Oliver B. Green.
He was something. I do know Tom
Moffit, Jr., he was about my age. I didn't really communicate with him
until he gave us permission some years ago to visit the old WLOF
site on Ring Road, off Old Winter Garden Road. That was a blast. So,
I stayed there until sometime during my freshman or sophomore year at Orlando
Junior College. Great school BTW. Bob
Andrews was the chief engineer at WTLN as well as WABR,
"Top Gun Radio". So, he offered me a job doing weekends at WABR
which was real radio so I left Apopka. WABR was a lot of fun. Doug
Coombs was the manager and Sandy Dann owned the property. Most of you
know it was adjacent to Dubsdread
Country Club which Sandy also owned. I had to leave there circa April
or May, 1969 as I had joined the Naval Reserve (AVROC program) and had to go to
OCS that summer, which I did. I came back to Gainesville with no hair,
immediately grabbed a job doing news at WDVH.
I also read meters at the WRUF transmitter site and worked in the North Florida
bureau of the Tampa Tribune, all at the same time. My Dad was a child of
the depression and he was only going to pay my tuition and rent. The rest
was up to me. UF was on the quarter system @ $150 a quarter. They
didn't start charging by tuition hour until after I graduated in 1971. I
also got fired and then rehired at WABR but that is another story. Interestingly,
when I graduated from Florida, I got a call from the WLOF
manager who asked me if I wanted to do news there. Wow, my dad relented.
What I didn't know was that he was in discussions to sell to Home Security Life
Insurance. Otherwise, that never would have happened. Long
story short, I wasn't smart enough to make any money in the radio business and
went in another direction. It was all fascinating and I will never forget
any of it or any of the people.
|