Welcome
to the first edition of the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame
Newsletter/Blog!!!
In the weeks and
months ahead, various members of the MBHOF Board of Directors will offer their
reports on events affecting broadcasting in the Bay State and their views on
the industry in general. This first
newsletter/blog is edited by MBHOF Board member Burt Peretsky, the former
long-time PR Director of WCVB-TV, Channel 5, Boston.
2013 Awards
Ceremony & Luncheon
A HUGE Success;
430-Plus Guests Cheer on Eight Living and Six Deceased Honoraries
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y any measure, the seventh annual Massachusetts
Broadcasters Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony & Luncheon held on
Thursday, Sept. 12, was a huge success!
A record crowd of 430-plus broadcasters and guests filled the ballroom
of the Boston Marriott Quincy Hotel, offering standing ovations to eight living
broadcasters and six broadcasters posthumously.
Video
and scores of photos from the 2013 event will soon be posted on the Hall of
Fame Website, www.massbroadcastersHOF.org, or if you wish to see some of the media reports on
the event, here are links to two
WCVB-TV stories:
And here are some others:
Here is a complete list of
the 2013 inductees: Susan Wornick, news
anchor and consumer reporter for WCVB-TV/Channel 5; Ron Della Chiesa, one of the great voices
of WGBH Radio and of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, famous for Music
America/The American Songbook, and broadcasts of Tanglewood's Summer Festival;
Loren (Owens) and Wally (Brine), the morning host team for WROR-FM since 1981;
David Mugar, former CEO of WNEV-TV, Channel 7 and the creator of the annual 4th
of July celebration on the Charles River; Garry Armstrong, WHDH-TV, one of the
first African-American television reporters in Boston; Chet Curtis, former news
anchor and reporter, WCVB-TV and New England Cable News; Ken (Carter) Carberry,
radio personality, pioneer and owner of WROL Boston, WCRN Worcester and WACE
Springfield.
Additionally, the Hall of
Fame honored in memoriam: Walt Sanders, WBZ-TV, Channel 4 reporter; Jim Britt,
Red Sox play-by-play announcer; Alan Dary, long-time radio host at WBZ and WHDH;
Jack Campbell, founder of WPLM Radio; radio pioneer Claire Crawford, one of the
few women in radio sales from the 1930s on to the ‘50s; and Richard L. (Dick) Kaye,
one of the founders of WHRB-FM at Harvard University and general manager of
WCRB Radio.
Raucous
and Rolling Reception for Former
WCVB-TV,
NECN Anchor Chet Curtis
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s many know, Chet is
valiantly battling cancer, and as he was assisted to the microphone at the
luncheon, he was greeted by a long and raucous standing ovation! “There goes my three minutes,” he quipped
when the applause finally died down! He
then went on to offer a stirring speech, talking about how lucky he was to be
in the broadcasting business and avowing that if he had to choose between winning
a Powerball jackpot or being among his fellow broadcasters, he’d choose
broadcasters and the broadcast business every time!
Chet’s long-time and loving
companion Kerrie Kristine wrote to one of Chet’s friends the day after the
MBHOF luncheon: “Chet is a very lucky
man to be loved by so many people. … He is a wonderful man and very deserving
of yesterday’s award. I know that he was overwhelmed and very appreciative.”
Chet’s former WCVB colleague Susan Wornick filed a wonderful Channel 5 story
about Chet being inducted into the Hall of Fame, and here it is again: http://www.wcvb.com/news/local/metro/chet-curtis-inducted-into-mass-broadcasters-hall-of-fame/-/11971628/21910450/-/1225ef2/-/index.html.
Hey,
who’s that with Myrna Billian?
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WHO is that
with 98-year-old Myrna Billian? Why,
it’s none other than MBHOF 2013 inductee
and WCVB-TV Midday News anchor Susan
Wornick! Susan is often seen with her Mom at community
and charity events in her native Natick or around the Greater Boston area. And
Mom Myrna was in attendance when Susan was inducted into the Mass Broadcasters
Hall of Fame. In her acceptance speech,
Susan recounted, as she often does, how her mother often calls the station
after Susan has reported a particularly newsworthy story. “You should cut your hair. It looks awful,” was the message her loving
mom would often give!
Also in attendance at the induction ceremonies to cheer on
Susan was former WBZ-TV sports anchor and 2008 HOF inductee Bob Lobel, with
whom she has remained good friends since
their divorce in the mid-1980s, and 2012 HOF inductee Jim Boyd, who co-anchored
the news at WCVB with Susan for many years.
Susan recently announced that she is
retiring next March. She joined the station as a
general assignment reporter in 1981 and began anchoring the Midday newscast in
1989.
“We just have a few short remarks…”
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oren Owens and Wally Brine of
Boston’s Radio 105.7 FM were among those honored. When they came to the microphone at the
induction ceremony, Loren pulled out and unfolded about 50 sheets of
paper. “We have a few short remarks we’d
like to make,” he quipped!
In 1981 Loren came to Boston from Denver
as the new morning host on WVBF. Wally came from Portland as the
afternoon host, but being a native New Englander who could pronounce names like
Yastrzemski (Yaz was still playing back then), Wally was also recruited to do
the morning sports. It turned out that these two guys were pretty funny
together, and the Loren & Wally show was born. Now, after three
ownerships, four sets of call letters (WVBF, WCLB, WKLB, WROR), four formats
(Adult Contemporary, Country, Oldies, Classic Hits), many huge ratings books
and about 6000 episodes of "Men From Maine"...all on 105.7 FM ... Loren
& Wally are still crazy after all these years.
From Vietnam with LBJ to
Boston’s Blizzard
Of ’78,
Garry Armstrong Has Seen it All!
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ew HOF inductee Garry Armstrong
was with the ABC-TV network before he began his 31-year career at WNAC-TV,
Boston, and in his acceptance speech, he reminisced about some of the big
stories he’s covered. Once, he found
himself standing next to President Lyndon Johnson in, of all places, a war-torn
Vietnam. The President, Garry said,
revealed himself to be a most caring soul as he agonized to Garry on the sorry
situation in Southeast Asia. Garry also
reminisced about his reporting on and meeting Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Theresa
when she visited Boston in June, 1987.
Sinatra
and Pavarotti probably bragged that they knew Ron Della Chiesa!
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ndefatigable! Anyone writing anything about Ron Della
Chiesa had better know how to spell “indefatigable!” Approaching his 75th year, radio’s
MusicAmerica host is going strong! And
if you don’t believe us, tune into WPLM-FM, Plymouth, on Sunday evening and
delight in Ron’s and his executive producer’s creations, Strictly Sinatra and
-- in its 18th year -- Music America.
Ron has been associated
with WGBH-FM Radio for many years, hosting Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts
and is known widely as “The Voice of the BSO.”
He has befriended and/or interviewed many music industry greats -
especially Sinatra, but also Luciano Pavarotti, Robert Merrill, Tony Bennett,
John Williams, Carol Channing, and Rosemary (or as he called her, in his HOF
induction speech, “Rosie”) Clooney. Many
are profiled in his wonderful book, Radio My Way.
Giving it
a “WORL”
Father to
Son to Father
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en (Carter) Carberry was
inducted into the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame by one of the HOF’s
Board members, its Treasurer - - an individual with the oh-so-catchy name, Ken
Carberry! Ken, the younger, was simply
paying the HOF’s homage to his dad who purchased WORL Radio back in the ‘70s
and with it as a flagship created a nationwide religious network. He also launched one of the area’s longest
running and most popular Irish music shows The Irish Hit Parade, which is still
airing today. He went on to acquire WRIB
in Providence, WLOB Portland and WACE Springfield and, more recently, WCRN 830 AM
in Worcester, a 50,000-watt talk station serving much of Southern New England.
David G. Mugar -- His
work and charity speak for themselves!
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avid Mugar chose not to speak at the
induction ceremonies, but his presence at the event, in broadcasting, in
business, and in philanthropy speak volumes for the man! He turned Boston television on its “air” when
he challenged the FCC license of WNAC-TV, Channel 7, won it in 1982 for his
group under new call letters WNEV-TV, and reworked its programming and
newscasts to win new supporters and higher ratings. David can be especially proud that through
Channel 7, he helped launch many careers, including those of future national
television personalities Bill O’Reilly, Matt Lauer, Mike Taibbi, and Rehema
Ellis.
For 27 years, he was the sole sponsor
of the Fourth of July Pops concert on the Esplanade and continues today as its
Executive Producer.
Special Notice of HOF
Thanks to…
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he 2013 Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall
of Fame Awards Ceremony & Luncheon could not have been the success that it
was without the hard work of:
·
Emerson College
·
BNN-TV
·
Event Sponsors,
Subaru of New England and the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association
·
Program book graphic
designer James Lynch of Massasoit Community College, former Board member Barbara Brilliant, and the
following MBHOF Board members:
·
MBHOF President Art
Singer (He’ll be authoring the next newsletter/blog, reflecting on his seven
years as the MBHOF’s first President.)
·
Dick Flavin,
chairperson of the event
·
Jordan Rich, emcee
extraordinaire
·
Dr. Charles Wall,
President, Massasoit Community College
·
MBHOF VP Lynne Osborn
·
MBHOF Secretary/Clerk
Joan Greenberg
·
Marjorie Arons-Barron
·
Ken Carberry
·
Arthur Katz
·
Ed Perry
·
Donna L. Halper
·
Don Kelley
·
Alan Chapman
And,
thank you, dear reader, for your interest in and support of the
Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame (www.massbroadcastersHOF.org)
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