tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3899478646313472600.post7995803815740896226..comments2024-03-28T02:43:18.092-07:00Comments on 590 FOREVER WARM RADIO: 590 MIGHTY MEMORY #96David Yonkihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00025916404029693902noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3899478646313472600.post-83381850052934316702020-04-04T14:29:35.289-07:002020-04-04T14:29:35.289-07:00Both posts above are mine. (Too many characters ...Both posts above are mine. (Too many characters for one. LOL). StanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3899478646313472600.post-22132269585628192222020-04-04T14:28:43.145-07:002020-04-04T14:28:43.145-07:00One Saturday morning, while wasting a little time ...One Saturday morning, while wasting a little time between estate sales about ten years ago, I stopped and got a bagel in Kingston. A man walked in the door for a couple of coffees to go. The owner knew him too, “Good Morning Jerry!” He was older and moving slowly. I had to go over and say hello. At first, I was a little nervous if and how he’d respond. He remembered me and in just a few seconds smiled and brightened up. We had a nice chat about family, some co-workers who had passed and how radio had changed so much. Even though it was a relatively brief chat, it made my weekend and I told all my co-workers about it.<br /><br />I’ve been blessed to have worked with many of the legends of WARM. They were terrific talents with very varied personalities. None was more unsung than the great Jerry Heller. My condolences to his family and friends.<br /><br />Stan PhillipsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3899478646313472600.post-14670492549645602542020-04-04T14:28:25.259-07:002020-04-04T14:28:25.259-07:00I'm a little (though not that much) younger th...I'm a little (though not that much) younger than most folks here and was a student and then a co-worker of Jerry's in the late 80's and 90's. While WARM is all sports / all satellite these days, both Frankie and I were each able to do a little tribute to Jerry earlier this week on sister station Magic 93 --- and I posted this to my Facebook page. <br /><br />As a kid in the 70's, when you heard a siren or an ambulance, people in the neighborhood would say "put WARM on". Seriously, no joke! TV News aired twice a day, but no one had the pulse of NEPA down more than WARM News - all around the clock. By the time I arrived in 1989, WARM was no longer the number one music station, but still far and away the top radio source for news. It was clearly the blueprint for WNEP-TV's news expansion in the 70's. When I moved over from WILK to WARM as a college senior in 1989, I didn't think I was ready or at the station's level. There was a maturity, a level at WARM unmatched down the dial. The epitome of WARM's professionalism was News Director Jerry Heller.<br /><br />When one of WARM's afternoon talents went on maternity leave, there was an opening for night news. I was a DJ (who did some sports and traffic reporting) but really had no interest in news. Still, I really had enjoyed Jerry's newswriting class in college and when he asked me to cover for a few months, I did. Working in news was exhausting. You had to write two newscasts an hour, deal with breaking stories, reporters phoning in stories and making police calls. Despite all this busy work, there were no computers. You were expected to write (or at least re-write) the local stories and attaching wire copy was frowned upon. Thankfully, I also had typing in high school, but even then it was usually a race. At just four hours a day, I was fried. The newsroom had four electric typewriters, scanners blaring everywhere and (a rarity in radio stations at the time) A TV – which usually didn’t have half the stories we were covering all day.<br /><br />Jerry would arrive at 5am and write a five minute cast for 5:30 and then many more all morning and into the afternoon. I don’t know how he did it. The man was a machine. He also ran the department (about seven full-time) usually worked six days a week and taught a college newswriting course. In all my years of radio, I know of no one who worked that fast, that hard, that steady. Plus, his delivery was unbeatable. This was the man whose voice I remembered reading my school cancellations growing up. Now, we were having conversations over the control board during commercials on the Harry West Show.<br /><br />By the early to mid-1990’s, corporate tinkered too much with WARM. There was music, then no music, then show tunes. The news department continued to shine, but some employees who moved on to bigger markets and national networks were not replaced. There was talk of a partnership with one of the area TV stations to cover some of the new holes in news. This was too much for Jerry. This was his baby and he was visibly (and rightfully) upset. At this point I had already been exclusive to Magic for a few years, so while I wasn’t seeing the toll on a daily basis, I couldn’t blame Jerry for taking a post at public TV, though it clearly hurt.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3899478646313472600.post-71330362493992817492020-04-02T14:57:02.122-07:002020-04-02T14:57:02.122-07:00Nice job David....Nice job David....John Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17266733475711026501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3899478646313472600.post-80542627519573550672020-03-31T09:34:33.574-07:002020-03-31T09:34:33.574-07:00David, on behalf of my family, thank you for this ...David, on behalf of my family, thank you for this tribute. It sounds like you got more than an "earful" from him more than once- I know the feeling lol!When it came to the news, he only knew how to do it one way and reading your take on his level of attention to detail, im not surprised. I knew most of the reporters that you mentioned and always, even as a small boy,had the feeling he was well respected by his peers and audience.<br />What most of WARMland probably doesnt know is that he was an even better father and husband. Up at zero dark thirty every day, i dont recall him ever missing a day of work, missing a little league game, missing a high school swim meet- he just led by example and he was my first hero.<br />what i find particularly noteworthy in your piece is how you finished with talking about budget, the "biz" of the news and how it evolved from the historic greats-names like murrow, huntley, brinkley, cronkite, paley just to name a few. Dad was cut from the same cloth starting at U of Missouri world renown journalism school. Unfortunately, he had no head for business and quite frankly didnt care. when it came to delivering hard news, he felt you cant put a price tag on something as important as broadcasting the news the right way. Sadly, he became very discouraged when he realized that stockholders and "bottom line" was taking over.<br />to say that im beyond touched and moved by the outpouring of love and wonderful comments(not the least of which is your piece here) is an extreme understatement.<br />i dont think ive ever seen the word "legend" used more for a man that wasnt named mickey mantle or stan musial.<br />thank you David and keep posting about the mighty 590!!<br /><br />Jeff HellerAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3899478646313472600.post-32406627369171975362020-03-31T05:35:52.597-07:002020-03-31T05:35:52.597-07:00Nice tribute David. Nice tribute David. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16760391843716979247noreply@blogger.com