Yesterday’s blog post about “the vision thing” resonated with many of you. In case you missed it, the connective tissue for radio was eyes wide open, a focus on the innovations coming down the road.
But what if you aren’t able to go out to CES and lay your eyes on the latest and greatest? Or see those cool new dashboards with album artwork, or AI visual representations of celebrities?
What if you’re visually impaired – or even blind? How can you imagine new tech and innovation, much of which needs to be seen? And how could you get past the barriers to even get a job in radio?
As I was writing yesterday’s post, I flashed on an article I saw on the WRIF website a few days ago, written by afternoon driver Meltdown. “The Incredible Story Of The Blind Man Whose Voice You Hear On WRIF” tells the story of Pete Gustin, the voice of the station for the past 14 years.
Former Greater Media/Beasley group PD, Buzz Knight, suggested Pete for the WRIF gig – and he’s obviously made the best of his break.
Pete’s got great pipes, of course, and can turn a phrase with the best of them. When you’ve lasted 50+ years like WRIF and been an institution in a market like Detroit, your station’s persona better be bigger than life.
Pete’s all that. There’s just one thing. He’s blind. I’ll let Meltdown give you Pete’s details. All I need to tell you is how this Boston-based talent has used the technology to his advantage. In addition to supplying the RIFF with voicework, Pete’s services are in demand by hundreds of other stations.
He has expertly mastered the tools of his trade, and has learned how to “read” scripts without actually having eyesight, thanks to yes, AI. Here’s how you cut copy when you can’t actually read a printed page or a screen.
You can read Meltdown’s story here.
Pete’s saga is truly amazing,, and as I started thinking about his incredible “vision,” I flashed on a personal experience of my own.
Unfortunately, it happened nearly 50 years ago at my alma mater, Michigan State, so the memories are just a bit sketchy. I was teaching the intro radio production class, along with my able graduate assistant, Gary Reid.
It was my first year teaching the class as the lead instructor, so I wanted to do a great job and set the right tone. Each quarter, a group of 50 freshman and sophomores would wander into the class, a required course in order to get that degree.
And it was rigorous. Like a shop class, it was pretty much all hands on: how to do a radio show, produce a newscast, and write and create commercials. Tests were about the technical angles – microphones and technique, and how radio stations functioned. The final was writing and producing a 30 minute documentary, the equivalent today of producing a podcast.
You couldn’t cram for this class. You either got going on Day One or you faced a lousy grade. And in some cases, having to take TR 201 over again later in the year.
I was at the head of the class, ready to give this quarter’s group the straight shot when a girl walks in the class, wearing sunglasses, and making her way to a seat with the help of a white cane.
And my heart got stuck in my throat. No one in the department’s administration gave me the heads up I would be faced with teaching a blind student how to work radio. We simply weren’t equipped to handle the task. I certainly wasn’t.
After class, I introduced myself, and Alice Evans explained to me she could do anything the other students could. She had presence, determination, and a great voice. (I later learned she could sing – even outside our studios, we could hear her singing along with many of the records.)
Reid and I got going, and using one of those Dynamo label makers and Alice’s help, we quickly got Braille labels on every switch, knob, and record in Studio B. We affixed labels on the tape recorders and
turntables in the studio so that wherever Alice went, she could “read” the equipment by touch.
We then put labels on a reel-to-reel editor so she could learn how to edit tape. I had our teaching assistants keep an eye on her when she picked up a razor blade to splice tape. To tell you I was terrified she’d slice off a finger was an understatement.
I needn’t have worried. My recollection is that Alice got through the class, gracefully and smoothly. And I remember wondering what might become of her. Back in the 70’s, it was not an easy task getting that first radio job. Alice had tougher odds to overcome.
So, yesterday, I started thinking about Alice Evans, for the first time in decades. Reid remembered her name, and with some first class investigative reporting on Facebook , found her.
For the past 36 years, Alice Evans has been on the air on WFLT, an Urban/Gospel station in Flint, Michigan – just an hour or so north of Detroit.
I started scrolling through the station’s Facebook page, and soon bumped into this post from nearly three years ago:
I cannot tell you how elated Reid and I were to see Alice had indeed not only carved out a radio career, but had done so close to home and in the same iconic fashion she had that day when a 20 year-old blind girl wandered into my radio class.
I have contacted Alice’s general manager, and hope to chat with her soon.
In the meantime, I marvel at Pete Gustin and Alice Evans, two sterling examples of overcoming life’s speed bumps, and figure out how to make the technology work for them.
These days, that’s a superpower that many with all their senses intact have not figured out.
Without question, Pete and Alice truly have “that vision thing.”
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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When I walked into the studio at WBBY in Sunbury, Ohio, I was intimidated by the huge World War II era RCA board with toggle-switches, rotating pots and turntables you had to shift into gear. Wasn’t sure I could do this. But – the man who taught me, Chuck Adkins, couldn’t see a damn thing. He said – if I can do it, you can! He was amazing. He did professional voice-overs and produced documentaries for the Columbus, Ohio radio reading service. You can find him on Facebook. He had amazing mic technique and still does. In fact, I often close my eyes when I’m in production to find the sweetest mic spot. Thanks for this post today. Made me remember a marvelous mentor.
Great story about Chuck. As I mentioned to Paul Ingles, there have been more successful blind radio people than I could have imagined. Thanks, Linda.
Here in the D.C. area–and going back a lot further–I’m reminded of the one and only Ed Walker…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Walker_(radio_personality)
Thank you, Eric.
Two more salutes for you – radio hall of famers in my book who just happened to be blind. Here’s the post I wrote just a few weeks ago when I learned that one of my mentors at my first station – Wake Forest’s WFDD – Brian Lewis had recently passed.
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I’m reading in the latest WAKE FOREST alumni magazine about the passing (Aug. 16, 2022) of Brian Lewis, class of ’77, and something of a legend in my days at WFDD. Brian may have been the first person I remember hearing on WFDD when I was a freshman at Wake in 74-75. He hosted either the Friday night or Saturday night DEACONLIGHT rock music show from 11p.m. to 3 a.m. and just was killing it. We liked so many of the same artists, it was listening to Brian that made me decide, “I could do that!” and went up to the station at the start of my sophomore year to start what’s turned out to be 47 years in radio.
The thing that was surprising, at first, to me, was that Brian was blind. And it was, to me, incredible, how he managed all the same things that a sighted person had to do to be a DJ at the station. Previewing new music, planning a show, doing a show with nothing but vinyl albums as the music source. Others from back in those days will remember more detail about how Brian would order his records, use masking tape (right?) to remind him which cuts he wanted to play. He’d do a trial and error cue-ing of the needle on the album once placed on the turntable, but get it all set and away he’d go. He knew where everything was on the board in the control room, the production room, the equipment room, the record stacks. I was humbled and amazed to watch him work.
And he was deeply enthusiastic about the station, the music, the camaraderie that we all shared there. He had a big laugh and LOVED comedy albums. He also LOVED to talk to listeners on the phone when he was on the air. How he managed to find the band-width to do that AND keep the show going smoothly – well, it always seemed miraculous to me.
Brian went on to work in radio for awhile, then in sales. He was also president of the Raleigh/ Wake County Council for the Blind, and vice-president of the NC Association of Workers for the Blind.
I was so glad when he and his wife Linda both made it to our big WFDD reunion some years back. I have some photos of that stashed someplace. I’ll take a look.
Big thanks to Brian for helping turn me on to DEACONLIGHT, WFDD, and radio in general. I’m sorry he’s gone… but forever in my memory.
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I’ve known a few sight-challenged people who’ve amazed me with their mastery of life through the years. None more impressive than Art Schreiber, who just celebrated his 95th birthday. Just ONE of Art’s claims to fame was that, at 37 in 1964, he was one of two American journalists to travel with the Beatles throughout most of their historic (and hysteric) first tour of the U.S. Art was a top news reporter for Westinghouse when he got the assignment. I could write more, but the thing to do is listen to this hour I produced on his Beatles story sometime. It’s a must-listen for Beatles fans.
https://exchange.prx.org/pieces/333859-talk-music-with-me-newsman-art-schreiber-on-the-b
As big a story as that was, what really set Art apart from the rest was when, in the 1980’s he went totally blind after having deteriorating eye problems for years. It happened suddenly when he was GM of Albuquerque’s KOB Newsradio. Long-story short, his company (Hubbard Broadcasting) stuck with him, he continued on in his position, continued on in radio for some time, became a committed and high ranking advocate for the blind both in New Mexico and with the National Federation for the Blind. He even ran for mayor one time, didn’t win, but the way everyone in the community knows him, you’d think he had.
When he chose to write a book about his life, he barely mentioned The Beatles stuff. He focused on how he managed to overcome his eyesight challenge. “Out of Sight: Blind and Doing Alright”.
https://www.amazon.com/Out-Sight-Blind-Doing-Right/dp/1936745119
Another amazing mentor and friend. He and Brian have made me grateful to have been in an industry that has adapted and made welcome people with disabled sight for decades.
Thanks Fred, for this column that’s given me a chance to acknowledge two heroes on my radio journey and share their stories with others.
Paul, thanks for taking the time to do so. Before writing this post, I truly had no idea how many blind people have navigated their way into radio jobs. It’s encouraging to hear these stories of grit and determination, not to mention the companies that believed in these people.
Thanks for sharing your stories here, Paul, with the rest of us! Feel like I know them from reading what you wrote. They both sound like amazing people and talents–and I’m especially thankful Brian lit that radio fire under you! And, being someone who falls into that huge, worldwide group you call “Beatles fans” (I actually won the entire Beatles library as a kid from a radio station–in fact, I have HELP! from that very collection right next to me, next up on my turntable!), I’ll take your advice and put your show on Art on my “must-listen” list! Thanks, friend!
Fred,
Great seeing this post. Pete was part of the WRKO team in the late 90’s that I joined just before the disaster that is Entercom (by any name) took over. Pete had then, and has now a wonderful gift, and that is a sense of humor. We collaborated on a couple of late-night bits that have stood the test off time and are still hysterical. Being around creative and capable, willing, mischievous people in radio was the payoff – always bigger than the check. And I don’t have to tell you that Pete isn’t afraid to take risks, do I?
Thank you for this post Fred. As a person who has been dealing with vision difficulties for over a decade, encouraging stories like the ones in your post give me hope and the willingness to continue my work.
Busy week and catching up on the blogs–but WOW WOW WOW was this one worth the wait!! I’m staring at my computer trying to find the words–unsuccessfully–for Pete Gustin! WHAT a talent! WHAT a voice! And what sheer grit and will and determination. That video left me speechless. Amazing. And Alice Evans achievements are no less amazing! 33 years on one station?? That’s not just impressive for a blind person. That’s impressive for anybody anywhere in radio. Only thing I can do–and this applies to both–is to echo the WFLT’s post: “To GOD Be the Glory for the things he has done!” Amen to that!
David, thank you. And I’m glad the post resonated for you.