They say everyone gets 15 minutes of fame. I had a few seconds of fame in the “BBS: The Documentary.” I was in the movie and Jason Scott (the director) said that my line got the biggest laugh in the movie.
But I do not think that counts as my 15 minutes of fame. So I must still have something more right?
I think I am in a book! Jerome S. Berg wrote “Listening on the short waves, 1945 to today.”
He did an interview with me and I think he wrote about me. I have no idea if it is good or bad or if I made it into his book. I have not got a copy of the book yet. I got it on my Amazon WishList and I use that list as a place to put things that I want and when I have a few extra bucks I go and order something. You know me… I always order computer hardware or radio hardware first. So I have not ordered the book yet. But I will one of these days and then we will find out if I was a good guy or a bad guy back in the late 50s and early 60s. I put out a shortwave club publication for a time. I did a “DX program” over WRUL radio for a year until they kicked me off the air. I pushed for the formation of a organization of shortwave clubs (and it was created) and I held the first convention of the ANARC in Kanas City (MO) so I think I might get a mention in the book.
So how many minutes of fame does that count as?
Shortwave listening was such a fun hobby and I made so many friends. There were a few meetings but most of your time was spent in your room in front of a shortwave radio late at night. I often think that all those years were wasted. I should have been out meeting people and doing things. On the other hand it was exciting and all sorts of things took place. Listening to see what happened when the United States set off a nuclear bomb in space. I was a teenager that had to go to summer school every year but I headed up a research group for MIT! (Office for Satellite Scatter – Research Group C). So I do not know if that was wasted time or if I was getting a hell of an education sitting in my bedroom listening to my shortwave radios.
When I get my hands on the book I will let you know if that completes my 15 minutes of fame or if there is still someone ahead for me.
Do mentions in a newspaper count as 15 minutes of fame? I was mentioned in a story in the Kansas City Star one time. It had to do with a meeting of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners. I stood up and make a hell of a speech. Of course the newspaper did not report it that way. The story did not make me look good.
I also was mentioned and given credit for a story on the front page of a weekly national Catholic newspaper. On my shortwave radio I picked up a report from Radio Havana about the arrest of a Catholic Bishop. I reported it to the newspaper and even played it for the over the telephone and they put it on the front page of the newspaper.
Maybe I have had my 15 minutes of fame. I am 70 years old.
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