The Greg Barman Collection
Greg Barman, DJ, WFLI 1976 
Greg Barman, Tech Recruiter, 2000 |
Greg Barman writes: "When I was a kid growing up in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois around 1960, WLS nighttime star Dick Biondi and his GM Gene Taylor both moved into the same townhouse complex as mine and right next to each other. Neither realized it until one day when they walked out of their homes at the same time! Having them as neighbors sparked my early interest in radio, and throughout high school and college I was a true radio freak and gathered a lot of aircheck tape. At Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana I majored in Radio-TV/Journalism and spent a lot of time at the student carrier-current station WIUS. We actively sought ties to the "real" world of radio, and some great people like WIBC-WNAP/Indianapolis execs Jim Hilliard and George Johns and WAKY/Louisville PD Johnny Randolph came to Bloomington to visit us. After college I took a stab at the DJ life, doing mornings at WFLI/Chattanooga, Production Director at 15Q (WKVQ)/Knoxville and then overnights at WMEE/Ft Wayne, Indiana. Gradually I got the message I was not made out to be a star jock, so in 1977 I shifted to what became my real calling in radio - news. I was an anchor and reporter for large and respected newsrooms at WHO/Des Moines and WIRE/Indianapolis. Then in 1982 I moved to Denver where I had long been drawn by the skiing and mountain recreation lifestyle. I was also pretty tired of moving by then and vowed to stay in the Rockies no matter what. In Denver I was an anchor/reporter at KNUS, KHOW, and News Director at public radio KCFR-FM. I also did a short stint as a TV assignment Editor. As radio news started shrinking in the 80's I started looking for another career, but continued to do news part-time into the 90's at KBCO-FM and the legendary KOA/Denver. My combined experience in broadcasting and journalism was good preparation for work as a Recruiter/Headhunter for emerging technology industries. I became a Technical Recruiter for the Telecom industry in 1996 and I helped find and hire people for companies such as Qwest Communications. Even though radio lost so much individuality in the consolidations of the 80's and 90's, it's still a kind of magical medium for me and I treasure my work in it. My aircheck collection preserves some great memories of the industry that I loved to be part of." |
The Repository thanks Greg Barman for sharing!
Herb Kent recently turned 80 and as of this writing (March 2009) he is still on the air in Chicago on the weekends at WVAZ(FM). Kent was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1995. He authored a book, “The Cool Gent: The Nine Lives of Radio Legend Herb Kent”.
Kent did his final radio broadcast Saturday morning October 22, 2016. He died that evening. He was 88.