Category Archives: Friends

Charlie Earls 1938-2022

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Charlie Earls didn’t give me my first job but he gave me the first job I really loved and, looking back 50 years, the best job I ever had. And he was a good man to work for.

My father worked at KBOA or many years (so I was pretty much a legacy hire) and when my mom’s health went bad, Charlie let my dad have time off for trips to he hospital in Memphis and made his life easier in other ways.

As program director I would occasionally go to Charlie (owner/manager) for advice. He’d listen to my problem and then say something along the lines of: “Okay. I can tell you what you should do, but if I do… you have to take my advice. Do you still want it?” He understood it was better for me to make the call, even if I made the wrong one.

I was fortunate to know Charlie and to have worked for him.

(From Missouri Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame) “Charles Earls was born in Wyatt, Missouri, the youngest of 7 children. He attended elementary school in St. Louis, and graduated in Steele, Missouri in 1956. He was an Air Force control tower operator in Chitose, Japan, where he developed his love for radio. He was also a local disc jockey on the Air Force radio station.”

“His first paid job in radio was for Harold Sudbury, Sr. at KLCN in Blytheville, Arkansas in 1960. That’s where he met and married Scottie Jolliff. A son, Charles Scott was born in 1961. With a new family, Charles decided to make radio his career and answered an ad in Broadcasting Magazine for a job in Waco, Texas. KAWA was a 10,000 watt daytime AM station where Charles was hired as a salesman and weekend newsman. Within six months he was the manager. An Illinois newspaper company owned the station and Earls moved his family to La Salle/Peru, Illinois, to put a new FM station on the air for them. He worked on the newspaper side as a salesperson for a while until he was able to fulfill his dream of owning his own radio station by purchasing KTHS in Berryville, Arkansas.”

“The Earls moved to Berryville in 1966 and Charles started attending the Arkansas Broadcasters Association meetings. Later that year, KBOA & KTMO in Kennett, Missouri became available, and in October, the Earls’ bought those stations and moved to Kennett, while still managing KTHS.”

“In the coming years, they added Missouri stations in Farmington, Branson and West Plains, a station in Creston, Iowa, as well as Arkansas stations in Mountain Home and Yellville.”

Indians weren’t real

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Growing up in a small town in the 1950’s, I had a Davy Crockett coonskin cap and rather amazing “Indian” war bonnet. Don’t recall who gave it to me or why.

Native Americans (don’t think we ever heard the term back then) were mentioned in our history lessons but rarely and inaccurately. The American “Indian” simple wasn’t real to us. Mostly they were the bad guys on TV and in movies. Tonto one of the rare exception.

My thanks to John Robison for sharing photos from his mom’s scrapbooks.

Iowa PBS announces new Iowa Press moderator

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(Press release) Kay Henderson, the dean of the Iowa Capitol press corps and long-time guest panelist on Iowa Press, will be the next host and moderator of the Iowa PBS public affairs program. Henderson replaces David Yepsen, who retires from the Iowa Press desk on September 10, 2021. Her first formal broadcast as host will be Friday, September 17.

“Kay is already a member of the Iowa PBS family,” said Molly Phillips, executive director and general manager of the statewide public television network. “She has capably subbed as host and has been a regular second chair at the Iowa Press desk. She’s participated in countless campaign debates over the last three decades. We couldn’t ask for a stronger, more esteemed and experienced journalist to continue the Iowa Press legacy.”

Henderson first appeared on Iowa Press in October of 1987. For the past 20 years, she has been the national political director for Learfield news networks in Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota and Wisconsin. She has served two terms as president of the National Association of State Radio Networks’ news directors group. Henderson was hired by Learfield in 1987 as a statehouse reporter for Radio Iowa, a statewide news and sports network serving more than 70 commercial radio stations. She’s been that network’s news director since 1994 and will remain in that role alongside her new weekly assignment at Iowa PBS.

“It’s an honor to be invited to take on this new role,” Henderson said. “Watching Iowa Press hosts Dean Borg and David Yepsen guide the program over the past 34 years has given me a glimpse of the responsibilities ahead. I’m humbled by the opportunity and excited about the task of helping Iowa Press move into its fifth decade of service to our viewers.”

Henderson received the Iowa Broadcast News Association’s 2002 Jack Shelley Award, an annual recognition of “outstanding contribution to the cause of professional journalism.” The list of Shelley Award recipients includes the late Dean Borg, who retired as Iowa Press host in 2016, and the late Dan Miller, the long-time Iowa PBS general manager who was an Iowa Press producer early in his 37-year career with the network.

“After three decades of Iowa public affairs coverage on radio and on Iowa Press, Kay Henderson is the backbone of political journalism in this state,” said Andrew Batt, Iowa Press senior producer. “Our viewers have found Kay to be a trusted source for news and information throughout annual legislative sessions and nearly 20 election cycles.”

Henderson’s first salaried job in journalism was a three-month summertime stint as managing editor of the Lenox Time Table, the weekly newspaper in her southwest Iowa hometown. In addition to her work in Iowa broadcasting, Henderson has appeared on the PBS NewsHour, NBC’s “Meet the Press” and ABC’s “This Week” as well CNN, Fox News and MSNBC.

WWI Hero: Warren Aaron Ransom, Jr.

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My friend Jamie shared with me a bit of family history that I found fascinating. With his permission, I’m sharing it here. (links at bottom of post)

It’s a letter from his paternal grandfather who fought at The Battle of Soissons in WWI. His grandfather received the Distinguished Service Cross from General Pershing for saving his commanding officer who was wounded under fire. They were forward observing (he was in the artillery unit that fired the first shot of American participation in WWI.)

Here’s an excerpt from the letter…

“Then, we were suddenly put into trucks, leaving the horses to follow behind us as fast as they could, and shot up to the big counter attack of the 18th of this month. We were on the left of the 1salient near Soissons, and fought along with some of the best troops France has – the Foreign Legion, the Moroccans, and the 20th Corps. You know all about the scrap from the papers. It was a wonderful experience but not particularly jolly.”

“The artillery followed the attack right up, and two hours after the first wave, we advance for 5 km into what had been German territory. It wasn’t jolly as I said, because both sides have good scrappers, and they scrapped! The first place we were er took up our advance position, was in a reserve German trench. They must’ve been preparing for breakfast, because they left us some good food and cigars, etc.”

You can read Jamie’s transcription of his grandfather’s letter here, and a scan of the original typewritten letter here.

Land Rover top swap

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On Saturday a few friends came out to the house to help me take the hardtop off the Land Rover and put the soft-top on. Didn’t do this last spring because COVID was rampant. Really missed driving around under the mesh top. Last time we had the top off was in 2019. Took more help to get the hardtop back on that fall.

I’ve stored the hardtop in different places. After it was nearly destroyed by a tornado, I kept it in the basement but that meant removing the top from the sides. With a little help from my friends we were able to squeeze it in under the deck. Going to see if I can improve the look with a section of plastic lattice. (see below)

My thanks to the crew: George Kopp, Dave Kempf, Gaston De La Torre, and Dave Trammel.

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt

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Ping Pong

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Yesterday I played ping pong with my friend John for the first time in more than a year. Before the pandemic we’d get together every couple of weeks in his basement. John is good enough to call it table tennis but it will always be ping pong for me.

We chat as we play and boy was I ready to interact with another human. John and his wife, Peggy, have both been vaccinated for COVID (as have I) so we felt safe as we played and talked. It will be a while (never?) before I take such simple pleasure for granted.

Found photos

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Taken in the Peck’s backyard in Kennett, MO. Buddy Peck, Joanne Peck and Jan Miltenberger on the left; Pam Pylant and Alan Johnson in the middle; Barb and Steve getting frisky; Richard Peck looking at the eclipse.


This was taken after one of the sad little promotions at the radio station. A watermelon seed spitting contest, as I recall.