This is a rare blog entry, one that properly fits in both the Radio Today and Old-Time Radio categories. I was pleased to attend the Metro Washington Old-Time Radio Club meeting last Friday evening, where they hosted Bob Edwards, host of Morning Edition for twenty-four years six months, and the author of a book on another iconoclastic newsman, Edward R. Murrow. Before I talk about Bob Edwards and his presentation, and share some photos of the event, let me make some comments about the MWOTRC.

Everyone - and I mean every soul in that room - was wonderful to this interloper who had driven too many hours across three states to attend the meeting. Many commented on how important the OTR Digest is to them (I reminded them that I don’t write it, I just keep the mechanics running - writing credits go straight to the wonderfully articulate subscribers of the Digest), others joked about my cane (I’ll talk about that sometime later this week), and everyone went out of their way to make me feel welcomed. I knew some of the members from the various OTR Conventions, but now am pleased to know many more. This is a great club - if you’re anywhere near Washington, D.C., Baltimore, MD, or northern Virginia, you owe it to yourself to attend their meetings. My only regret is that I didn’t get the chance to introduce myself to Ed Walker, host of WAMU’s The Big Broadcast. I hear his voice frequently when I stream his Sunday-night show from www.wamu.org (I used to be able to hear WAMU’s signal directly, but one of the many Red Lion, PA religious stations tramples the signal nowadays), so like Bob Edwards, he’s a familiar and comforting presence in my life.

I was rather fascinated by the way their meetings traditionally begin…with fifteen minutes of Old-Time Radio. Sometimes in the enjoyment of getting together, we tend to forget why we’re gathered in the first place…this is an organization who, through this tradition, puts OTR first. This is something other groups should consider emulating.

It was particularly interesting because the OTR chosen for this evening’s meeting was a documentary clearly produced by NPR (National Public Radio) and hosted by Scott Simon, one of the very few reasons to still listen to this network, and one of the few anchors they haven’t canned in the name of some nebulous, “new sound.”

Next came the speaker’s portion of the evening; Bob Edwards, who recently completed his, “Feel the Love” book tour (that’s only slightly ironic - by all reports, everywhere he went in the promotional tour for the book combined with his fundraising tour for public radio stations who stood by silently when the pinstripes fired him from Morning Edition he was surrounded by people who loved his presence in their morning routines, and miss him terribly), spoke on Mr. Murrow and his lasting impact on broadcast radio. “I wanted to be him,” he said. “I mean, just look at him!” gesturing to the book jacket showing Murrow, dapper in overcoat and hat, leaning against a small truck, one foot resting suavely on the running board.

Unlike the appearance I attended back in May at Politics and Prose where questions leaned toward, “Why are you no longer ME host?” or, “What’s wrong with those people at NPR?” almost all of the questions from this appreciative audience were on Murrow, with the remainder asking about his new show on XMPR, the public radio channel of XM Satellite Radio. He noted that the staff was considerably smaller than that of Morning Edition (”Sylvia Poggioli won’t be there…”), with currently six people working on the program’s staff. He also talked about having a lot of musician interviews in his pocket; there are so many artists traveling through the halls of XM, it’s easy to “grab Peter, Paul, and Mary” (It was strangely coincidental that, as I was typing this listening to Here and Now on XMPR, a promo ran for The Bob Edwards Show where he plays an excerpt of an interview with…Peter, Paul, and Mary).

During the booksigning portion of the evening, I got a brief moment to ask a question I’ve been wondering about for months. As anyone who’s heard any of the many interviews with Mr. Edwards knows, he refers to journalists as “voyeurs,” people who, “like to watch, and tell what they see.” I wondered what it was like for him in that March/April timeframe, to change from being the voyeur to being the one watched…being the story instead of reporting it. He told me it was good for him personally; that the reportage of his situation with NPR resulted in over twenty job offerings, from which he chose the new show at XMPR. Then he looked at me, and said softly, “But if I had my druthers, I’d rather be back at Morning Edition.”

If we all had our druthers, he’d be there, too.

Fred Berney videotapes the proceedings.	Michael Henry chats with a visitor.	Jack French begins the meeting with fifteen minutes of Old-Time Radio.	Chuck Langdon, Club President, introduces the program organizer.
Michael Henry introduces the evening’s special guest.	Bob Edwards talks to the group about Edward R. Murrow.	He also talks a bit about his new show on XM Satellite Radio	After the presentaton, Mr. Edwards signs copies of his new book.
Bob Edwards’ book-signing.	Lennell Herbert-Marshall, Club Treasurer, and Ed Walker of WAMU. (Honest, she isn’t usually this stern…)	Folks gather around the lending library after the presentation.	Chuck Langdon talks with Bob Edwards.