Remembering the old bi-monthly WWFM – The Classical Network program guides, which passed into obsolescence as the station gradually shifted its focus to online content.
“The Lost Chord” made the cover in July/August 2008. The show, devoted to unusual and neglected repertoire, is now in its 18th year. This week’s program, focusing on music composed at Howard Hanson’s summer home on Bold Island, Maine, has now been posted a webcast. You can enjoy it here.
https://www.wwfm.org/post/lost-chord-august-22-august-hanson
It’s sobering to note that three of the hosts pictured are no longer with us. The photo of WXXI’s Richard Gladwell, longtime host of the syndicated sacred choral music show, “With Heart and Voice,” was snapped on a visit to Trenton-Princeton. Gladwell died in 2009 at the age of 88.
Radio legend Ralph Collier hosted numerous talk shows, travelogues, and review segments over the course of his career, with guests ranging from Maria Callas to Fred Astaire to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. During his time at WWFM, I acted as Ralph’s “mule,” transporting audio from Ralph’s home in Philadelphia to the station. His was a voice I’d known since childhood, so I always got a charge out of hearing him at the other end of the phone. I still have one of his messages. Ralph died in 2013 at the age of 91.
And of course, Bliss Michelson was probably my most significant mentor. He was perhaps the most complete “radio man” I ever worked with. I greatly admired his avuncular, unflappable on-air presence. He could handle any challenge you dropped on him, even in front of the microphone, with absolutely no notice. Bliss died of complications from COVID-19 in March at the age of 71. He is fondly remembered.
