2021 Discussion about Tenth Anniversary of the Final Friends of Old Time Radio …


The Friends of Old Time Radio held annual conventions for fans and hobbyists of classic radio from 1976 to 2011. The convention was chaired by Jay Hickerson and was supported by many volunteers over the decades. It attracted performers from the "golden age of radio" and fans from all over North America and had many international attendees over the years. This recording is of a discussion held on the streaming station YesterdayUSA on December 4, 2021. It was hosted by regular YUSA hosts Walden Hughes, John Gassman, and Larry Gassman. Discussion participants included collectors Stu Weiss and Joe Webb, who were on the convention organizing committee from its beginning, and Sean Dougherty who was a volunteer in the later years of the convention. Stu was involved in the convention from its first until its final in 2011. Joe left the convention about 1985 to pursue career and family, but was always in touch with Stu, and Jay Hickerson. Jay passed away on August 3, 2022, the day that this was posted. Jay's health varied in the previous couple of years, with good days and less good days. He unfortunately could not join on the group for this day of the panel discussion. Jay was the leader of the convention efforts, a title he would dismiss if anyone ever said that's what he was or did. He assembled volunteers and found ways to get the best out of everyone who wanted to be involved. Somehow, his kind personality drew people, who might not otherwise work together or know each other, or even have any affinity for each other, to collaborate to create an annual homage to the art of radio performance and its performers. There were times of struggle to get logistics right, here and there, or to diffuse situations, but somehow his practical nature would always result in things coming out just right. In the last years of the conventions, attendance was actually growing. Radio performers were bringing their associates to bask in the affection that fans and hobbyists were pleased to send their way. The convention gave them a chance to perform in radio plays of their careers once more and to revive their skills and renew their acquaintances with radio pros they may not have seen in many years. Jay's importance to the classic radio hobby began in 1970 when he decided to create a newsletter for his fellow travelers in "old time radio." He named it "Hello Again," after the weekly greeting that Jack Benny made on his broadcasts to his listeners. Before there was social media, the classic radio hobby had Hello Again . The monthly fanzine had news of programs being found or made available or news of collectors' families and personal events. The enthusiasm of our hobby from its earliest times was captured in every typewriter keystroke Jay made. In those early years, the hobby waited for news of the next disc discovery, programs that others had for trade, and also any historical information and documentation that could be found. Hello Again offered details about new books and publications, and especially many of the regional clubs and gatherings. Those clubs relied on Hello Again to attract members and stimulate interest in their events. Since so many traders had to use the mail to trade tapes with each other, we relied on Jay to tell us when postal rates were changing and how to nicely tell postal clerks that there really was a "special fourth class sound recordings" rate and where it was in their price manual. Every issue of HA immersed you into the culture of the hobby. Sometimes it seemed you were not really a hobbyist if you did not get Hello Again . Its stature and importance was well above the innocence of its four or six mimeographed monthly pages, hand collated, hand stapled and mailed with a real stamp, sometimes with a personal note included. When the conventions finally came, everyone finally had a chance to meet the people who were just names in the newsletters. Many of us have had them as friends and acquaintances for decades. It was all thanks to Jay, and his devotion to the hobby, and to all of us other fans. When we did this interview, we knew that Jay was ill... and knew that we would be talking about him a lot. But we did not know that he would be gone so soon. It was not even a year later. So it is appropriate that this audio be made available on this very day of his passing so that his presence and devotion to the hobby of classic radio be recognized in a very special way. It is very important that new fans and hobbyists of classic radio have this glimpse into the hobby's early years and its multi-decade gatherings. The hobby would not have been as large or retain its vibrance these many decades without Jay's efforts of years ago. Again, he would be uncomfortable with such a remark. That's okay... we know it's all true. Thank you so much, Jay, for keeping the flame of classic radio alive for so very long. Now it's up to the rest of us, and those who follow after us, to do the very same. We thank YesterdayUSA for their permission to post this audio here at the Internet Archive.

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.