Foreword

The following should actually have been placed before "The Beginning", but as they say, "better late than never".

Like all stories, this one has a beginning and an end, with a whole lot of activity in between.  Most stories have a relatively slow start in the beginning – establishing characters and places and how those characters interact with each other – that helps build a story line to keep the reader's attention. Some time later in the story there will be a climax, often toward the end of the story, and finally the end of the story to tie up most of the loose ends and some profound point about life as we know it..

The end is where the main characters of the story go on with their lives and business.  In fairy tales – the end is where they say “And they all lived happily ever after.”  But this story isn't a fairy tale so it won't be ending with “And they all live happily ever after”.  Don't get me wrong. some of the players in this story will be happy, some will be not so happy and some will continue to be unhappy – in spite of the good things and good people that come into their lives over the years.  Oh we'll try to not have any fatalities along the way in this story, except perhaps from natural causes or diseases, but not everyone will go happily on their way at the end.  (Here's a little secret – I am one of the lucky ones in this story, that does go happily on his way.)

Near the end of this story (and I'll try to not ruin the ending for you), I walk off my dream job of 32 years simply because I couldn't work for ______ one more day.  Sometimes you do what you have to do, even when you are truly dedicated to the radio stations you work for and the great employees that work for and with you – but sometimes there is no other way to deal with a situation,  than to say, “I've had enough and I just can't do this anymore”.  Even when doing so may be the most difficult thing you do in your entire life.

The "Studio"

It was the summer of 1967 when some of my dad's brother's and their extended families gathered at Lake of the Ozarks for a family reunion/vacation.

By November of that year, I had a assembled a makeshift radio studio in my bedroom back in St. Louis.  Granted, some of it was for appearance, but there was the real microphone for the small GE 3" reel to reel tape recorder, my childhood phonograph player and the clock/radio handed down from my brother.  For appearances only, there was an old fishing rod suspended from a desk lamp attached to the wall for a mic boom and a rod magnet taped to the end of that fishing rod for the "studio mic" look - but it all added the magic of making "radio" happen right there in my bedroom.

With the GE recorder, I actually made tapes of myself introducing records (45 rpm singles), talking in between changing records, reading some news and a weather forecast.  I tried to recreate the magic that the pros created in their real radio studios, but there in my bedroom and for my ears only.

In this photo, you can see the mic boom, fake mic, record player (with a script for a commercial propped up in the lid), the real tape recorder microphone on a cardboard box at the center (the box acted as a sound shock absorber), plus the tape recorder and the clock/radio with some 3" reels of tape stacked on top.

 

Oh, and here's me in my studio:

And, believe it or not, in the next year or two, I took this studio to the next level with the help of a kit from Radio Shack, that allowed me to build my very own FM transmitter.

(to be continued)

The Beginning

Here's an excerpt from the beginning of a story, which I have already started to write:

The important beginning of this story, takes in place in the summer of 1967 – when I toured a radio station that was owned by an older cousin and her husband, and decided, “I want to work in radio someday”. The station was KRMS at Lake of the Ozarks, owned by Jim and Ella Mae Risner.  The Risner's owned the station from 1959 until 1979.  Ella Mae was the daughter of my father's oldest brother.

I was 11 years old and had just discovered what kind of career I wanted later in life. Growing up in St. Louis – and over the years listening to some of the great on air talent there – Johnny Rabbit, Mason Lee Dixon, Davey Lee, Jim White, Jack Carney, Robert “The Country” Fox, Radio Rich (Dalton), Peter E. Perisi, Jack Buck, Harry Carey, Mort Crowley, Rex Davis, John McCormick and a cast of thousands more.

From listening to radio I learned, among other things, The Star Spangled Banner (radio stations signed on and off with The Star Spangled Banner, back when many stations signed off the air at midnight and back on the air at 5 AM), The Lord's Prayer (recited early each morning around 5 AM for many years on KMOX by John McCormick, “The Man Who Walks and Talks at Midnight”), and a radio shift sign on by Mason Lee Dixon that went something like - “Good evening ladies and gents and boys and girls …. and those of you in neither category ….”, which would be just a little politically incorrect these days, although I suppose it was Dixon's humorous approach to equal opportunity entertainment.

After touring that radio station at the age of 11, all my formal education from then on, was approached by me with the attitude - “Will this be helpful in radio or not?”

When The Dream Becomes A Nightmare

Here is my letter that appeared in the Open Forum section of the Mexico Ledger on Tuesday, 10/12/2010:

Dear Friends,

As of Tuesday, September 28th, I am no longer with KXEO and KWWR.

Suffice it to say that I came to the conclusion that I could no longer work in that environment.

I wish all the best to the stations and my former employees – they're some of the greatest people in the world to work with. I will miss being on the radio but all things happen for a reason, and I'm sure God has great things in store for Mona and me.

Thanks for listening to me for 32 years, I greatly appreciate your friendship and support.

“....Just direct your feet, to the sunny side of the street....” 

Carpe diem and make it a good one!

-Gary Leonard
Mexico, MO

(Click here to listen to my Feel Good Friday edition of "Sunny Side of the Street")
("Sunny Side of the Street" is by Willie Nelson, Stardust-1978, with movie sound clips edited in by Gary Leonard)