Blast from the Past

Book excerpt: Radio has just celebrated its 75th anniversary and it's as vital and varied as ever. Rhoads, a zealous radio historian and archivist, has captured radio's exuberance and fluency in this marvelous collection of more than 900 photographs, many of which have never before been published. This collection of portraits, both posed and candid, of radio personalities is a veritable radio hall of fame, showcasing everyone from Jack Benny to Howard Stern. Rhoads begins with photographs chronicling the rise of the pioneering Pittsburgh station, KDKA, the first to achieve continuous broadcasting, then keeps pace with radio's rapid growth, offering rare documentation of every type of on-air performer, from men of the cloth delivering the first on-air services to vaudevillians, conductors, sportscasters, and dramatists, many of whom went on to achieve fame in Hollywood. Styles change, but the magic continues as radio continues to evolve in conjunction with its competitor, television. On-air performers gave way to disc jockeys and talk show hosts, but talents such as Garrison Keillor and various NPR contributors have helped keep imaginative radio alive and well. - Donna Seaman--BL 03/15/1996.