RESPECT: Nichelle Nichols

 Nichelle Nichols company "Women In Motion" was hired buy NASA to recruit women and minorities into the Shuttle program.

Before she came on board NASA only got 1500 Astronaut application in 8 months.
Fewer than 100 were from women and only 35 from minorities.
Nichols went across the country recruiting, on talk shows and even doing radio and TV PSA's that ran in prime time.
When she was finished she had over 8,000 applications - 1,649 from women and over 1,000 from minorities.
NASA was so impressed with her results they increased the 1978 Astronaut class roster from 25 to 35.
Sally Ride, Judith Resnik, Anna Fisher, Rhea Seddon, Kathryn D Sullivan and Shannon Lucid were the first six women picked.
Ride would become the first female Astronaut to fly in space with Resnik second.
Kathryn Sullivan would become the first woman to perform an EVA.
Shannon Lucid held the record for the longest duration stay in space by an American, as well as by a woman. She has flown in space five times including a prolonged mission aboard the Mir space station in 1996. She is the only American woman to have served aboard Mir.
Lucid held the record until Sunita Williams broke her record 20 years later.
Nichols would later recruit another woman Astronaut Eileen Collins- First woman to become a Shuttle commander.
Nichelle Nichols did all this and more in just a recruitment campaign of only four months!
#NASA #sallyride #judyresnick #Nichellenichols

RESPECT: Engineers

 Astronaut and humanitarian, the late Neil Armstrong put aside his trepidations and made a rare public appearance in 2004 to honor a fellow engineer, James Doohan, Star Trek’s Lt. Montgomery Scott.

Armstrong served as keynote speaker during Planet XPO's "Beam Me Up One Last Time, Scotty" convention in 2004. The gala event, attended by Trek luminaries William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, George Takei and Majel Barrett Roddenberry, celebrated Doohan's awarding of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
During a banquet in Doohan's honor, Armstrong gave a heartfelt speech that excited, amused and delighted the many fans that had gathered to see the iconic Trek engineer at his last convention appearance.
, “So, I’m hoping for my next command, to be given a Federation starship,” said Armstrong. “And, when I get that command, I would like to have a crew like Captain James T. Kirk had. Spock and Chekov and Uhura and Dr. McCoy and Sulu and the others we all remember.
“Now I have a confession to make. I am an engineer. And if I get that command, I want a chief engineering officer like Montgomery Scott. Because I know Scotty will get the job done and do it right. Even if I often hear him say, ‘But Captain, I dinna have enough time!’
“So from one old engineer to another, thanks, Mate”
#startrek #JamesDoohan #neilarmstrong #Apollo11 

RESPECT: Our CEO, Leader, and brother in Radio Fred Weinberg has passed.

OBITUARY FOR FREDERIC MARCK WEINBERG

Frederic Marck Weinberg passed away September 23 in Reno, Nevada after a short illness.
Fred was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico 3/17/1952, the son of Philip and Rose Weinberg. Dr. Weinberg moved the family to Peoria, Illinois in 1956 when he joined the faculty of Bradley University.
Fred attended Richwoods High School where he developed a love for photography and sports reporting. He flew with the Civil Air Patrol and worked as a stringer for the Journal Star before heading off to college at Southern Illinois University. He returned to Peoria to study journalism at Bradley. He became involved with WCBU, the campus radio station, where he was station manager.

Weinberg took a detour from broadcasting in 1975 for careers at the Penny Press Peoria Newspaper, E F Hutton and ownership of Three Worlds Disco. He tried his hand in the oil business and did a stint with ABC TV before deciding to get back into the business he loved – radio.

Fred owned stations in Claremore/Tulsa, Oklahoma and Las Vegas, Nevada. He put together a chain of small radio stations across Nevada before joining USA Radio Networks in 2016.

He bought that business out in 2018 and ran it as CEO until his death. USA Radio Networks provides long-form radio shows and news to more than 400 stations across the country. They also run stations in Dallas, Phoenix and Cedar Rapids, IA.

Weinberg also published the Penny Press Nevada, a conservative weekly online newspaper, and worked with the Nevada Republican party in his spare time.

He was known to broadcasters and politicians across the country. Sometimes boisterous and often opinionated, he always had a deal working. Two cellphones and a laptop seemed to be attached to his body. Fred was loyal to a fault, and his employees stuck with him through many stations and opportunities, good times and bad.

Fred met his wife, Charlotte Alarid, in Las Vegas in 1999. They married in Hawaii in 2004. She survives as well as his step-children, Randi and Stephen Alarid, both in Reno. Weinberg is also survived by sisters Susan Weinberg (Martin Arend) and Andrea Weinberg-Chestnut, two nieces and two great-nephews.

A memorial service will be held in Reno at a November 6.. In lieu of flowers,The family requests donations to the Weinberg Family Scholarship fund at Bradley University in Fred’s name. https://www.bradley.edu/giving

RESPECT: 1951-2021 - RUSH

 

RESPECT Kriston Fincher

 

Kriston Fincher

Gone but not forgotten. Kris had over 25 years experience in flight simulation and avionics design, and 15 years in talk radio. Kris worked at Lockheed Martin for over 19 years as a designer for F-16's. As much as we would love to go into detail of this, a lot of Kris's work was classified. He was the board op for Cyber-Line for many years. Later in life Software / Firmware Specialist at Unilectric Ltd in Round Rock, Texas where he lived and died in March 2020 and not from Covid though Covid interfered greatly with his funeral services. You can find out some more interesting facts about Kris here: Quora

RESPECT The Ole Geezer

 

The Ole Geezer AKA Michael Szigmound Suhar

The Ole Geezer AKA Michael Szigmound Suhar passed away August 3, 2018 after a short battle with Cancer. He is survived by his wife Eve (Eva) married to for 43 years, two loving sons, his late son Scott, and his grandchildren one who is named after him.

He was in the Navy. He loved being a member of the American military serving proudly the country he loved, moving around and finally settling in Texas. Where he then proceeded to work for Lockheed and was involved in the electronic field since 1959 and designed & built real-time flight simulators for 27 years before retiring in 2008.

His interest in radio was fueled by listening to communications on Halicrafters, Heathkit, and Collins receivers in the 50's and more recently on a Uniden BCD536T/BCD & 436 HP scanners and the iCom IC-R20 wideband communication receivers. Having attained his Amateur Extra license, Mike is on the air with Cushcraft R8, Hy-Gain AV6160, AR-270B Verticals and Wideband Discone connected to a iCom IC-7700 HF-50Mhz/iCom 9100 HF/VHF/UHF All Mode Multi Bander transceiver or Yaesu FTdx 3000 HF-50Mhz or Yaesu FT-991 HF/VHF/UHF All Mode Multi Bander transceiver transceiver.

He was an amateur ham radio operator wa0am and received many awards. These awards ranged from ARRL Life Member, QRZ Life Member, WAS Digital, and more. He was also a guest of Mick Williams’ Cyber-Line Radio show on KSKY AM, WBAP AM and the IRN/USA Radio Network often hosting when Mick was out, and a prominent member of the “Round Table.”

He was a very talented web designer in his later years of life enjoying not only the creation of his own website but his sons. It is said that his coding was not only beautiful but a work of true art that stands up to this very day.

He will be truly missed not just by family but those that grew to know him via his adventures with radio, and online.

His dying wish was to have a charity set up in his name which has been completely destroyed by his son. So stay tuned, that link will be added when completed and the son has fixed all the wrong doings.

RESPECT: In Memory of Patrick McGoohan 1928 - 2009

 http://www.netreach.net/~sixofone/PATRICKMcGOOHANobituary.pdf

RESPECT: Len Mohnkern (1927 - 2006)

 

Leonard C. "Len" Mohnkern, KPYK's owner, and long-time voice of the Pick of the Dial News, passed away Saturday, November 18, 2006, one week after his 79th birthday.

Len was born November 11, 1927 in Oil City, PA, and has resided in Terrell since 1968. He began his nearly 60-year radio career in Oil City, Pennsylvania, in 1948. After moving to Terrell, TX, in 1968, Len worked for Radio Station KTER in Terrell. He was the Area News Editor of the Terrell Tribune during the 1970's, and was a news reporter for KBOX in Dallas until the early 1980's.

Len, with his son, Chuck, opened the Radio Shack franchise store in Terrell in 1980, and they have operated the store since that time. He and his son have also owned and operated KPYK since 1992.

Len was instrumental in organizing the Christian Business Men's Committee of Terrell in 1969, and was actively involved in CBMC for the past 37 years.

Len was preceded in death by his parents, Charles L. and Margaret May Gibson Mohnkern. He is survived by his loving wife of 56 years, Elizabeth, with whom he worked on the air at KPYK. He is also survived by his daughter, Susan Pinson, and her husband Ray; son, Chuck Mohnkern; grandchildren, Michael Pinson, Wendy Howe and husband Steve; sister, Betty Nutter and husband Dan; several nieces, nephews, as well as extended family. 

RESPECT: Frankie Thomas (1921-2006)

 

From The Los Angeles Times Frankie Thomas, 85; Starred in TV's 'Tom Corbett, Space Cadet' By Dennis McLellan, Times Staff Writer May 17, 2006 Frankie Thomas, a popular stage and screen juvenile actor in the 1930's who gained widespread fame on TV in the early 1950s as the star of "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet," has died. He was 85.Thomas, who later became a leading recreational bridge instructor and an author, died Thursday of respiratory failure at Sherman Oaks Hospital, said his stepdaughter, Julie Alexander. The Manhattan-born son of actors Frank M. Thomas and Mona Bruns, Thomas established himself on Broadway in the early 1930s. After appearing in the drama "Wednesday's Child," the teenage Thomas came to Hollywood to appear in the 1934 film version at RKO. Over the next few years, he shuttled back and forth between Hollywood and New York, appearing in plays such as "Remember the Day," "Seen but Not Heard" and "Your Loving Son" and in films such as "A Dog of Flanders," "Boys Town" and "The Major and the Minor." The curly-haired Thomas also starred in "Tim Tyler's Luck," a 1937 adventure serial. And he played Nancy Drew's droll boyfriend, Ted Nickerson, in four of the teenage sleuth films starring Bonita Granville in 1938 and 1939. After serving in the Navy and the Coast Guard during World War II, Thomas moved back to New York and worked frequently in radio and early television, including the soap opera "A Woman to Remember." In 1950, he was cast in the title role of Tom Corbett, a Space Academy cadet in training to become a member of the elite Solar Guard, 400 years in the future.In landing the title role in the children's adventure show, Thomas beat out a number of young actors, including Jack Lemmon. "Frankie looked like the all-American boy," said Jan Merlin, who played the wisecracking cadet Roger Manning ("So what happens now, space heroes?"). "There was a style of acting that kids in those days had, particularly Hollywood kids," Merlin told The Times. "If you were playing the all-American boy, you talked a certain way, you tensed your jaw in a certain way, and he fitted it. "Everyone in the room knew immediately this was the guy we were going to get." "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet" debuted in October 1950 as a 15-minute, three-nights-a-week series on CBS. The show later expanded to 30 minutes and aired variously on ABC, NBC and the DuMont networks. There also was a radio version. In that pre-Sputnik era, the adventures of Tom Corbett and his fellow space travelers quickly caught on with viewers, who included a surprising number of adults."The disc jockeys all picked up our lingo: 'Blast your jets,' 'Don't fuse your tubes, 'Spaceman's luck,' " Thomas recalled in a 2005 interview with Starlog magazine. "We were hearing all of this and we said, 'Hey, if they're saying it, they're watching it.' " Eventually, Thomas told the Asbury Park Press in 2000, "there were 135 different products bearing the name of 'Tom Corbett.' Kellogg's, which was a wonderful sponsor, renamed their second-biggest seller, Kellogg's Pep, the 'Solar Cereal.' They had my picture on the box." Because the show aired live, it was prone to occasional flubs. "Frank had a wonderful retentive memory, and frequently if an actor went up with his lines, Frankie would pop in and say the guy's lines for him," Merlin said. On one occasion, Merlin recalled, "a fella was so nervous he began with Frank's line. So Frank answered with his line, and they did that through the entire scene. At the end of the scene, the director came out of the booth and said how wonderful they were and didn't realize they had changed lines."Frank was delighted with that; he had a marvelous sense of humor." After the TV series ended in 1955, Thomas gave up acting and wrote for television and radio for a time. He then played on the bridge circuit with master players and taught recreational bridge for many years. He also was the longtime editor of the American Bridge Teachers' Assn. Quarterly Magazine and served as president of the organization. Thomas also wrote a string of mystery novels, including "Sherlock Holmes and the Masquerade Murders," featuring Arthur Conan Doyle's famous character. Thomas' wife, Virginia, died in 1997. In addition to his stepdaughter, he is survived by his stepson, James Aicholtz, and a step-grandson. At his request, Thomas was buried Tuesday in his "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet" costume. Tom Corbett, Space Cadet: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042156/ Frankie Thomas: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0858833/

RESPECT: Elma G. (PEM) Farnsworth (1908-2006)

 

The "Mother of Electronic Television" is Gone. I was so HONOURED to have interviewed this extraordinary woman for the 75th anniversary of the very FIRST TV broadcast. The reason I say electronic television is because there was once a mechanical television first invented by John Logie Baird in Scotland. It made its debut at Selfridges on 25 March, 1925. The two were like Beta and VHS. And we know which one won out. :-)

More info: http://www.farnovision.com

The Londoner (My Second Home)

We had a marathon remote at The Londoner in Addison this Sat. Underground Shopper was from 12-3, The North Texas Gourmet with Bruno Dinola and me from 3p-5p and The Beer Show from 5p-6p. Then I drove over to USA Radio and did Cyber-Line from 9p-12a. Been up for 17 hours. Man I beat. The Austin Healey Motor Club came out with about 6 vintage cars! The Londoner has a lot of meaning to me. Andy Tarczon and I ate there almost every day back when he was with Psion and I was at Comp USA. We "immersed" ourselves in the culture as we prepared for a trip. Psion was giving away an all expense paid trip to London to the salesman who sold the most PDA's. I was number one in the nation! When I left Comp USA in the later part of 1997, Lucia and I celebrated my last day playing pool all night. The Londoner was in its old place then. It later would move to its new bigger expanse across the street. Over the course of time, I'd bring friends to share a meal. I was known to always be brainstorming over Chinese buffets. But the Londoner was the place I was more able to relax and unwind over fish and chips, scotch eggs and a Guiness. And now, I'm pretending to be producing shows and doing live remotes from the Londoner! I've always had good things happen when I was involved with this great place. If still around when I die, I'd like to have my wake there as well and have let my wife Diane know!