For Immediate Release
Contact: The Tulsa Press Club will recognize seven radio legends: Chuck Adams, Jack Campbell, Ben Henneke, Len Morton, Scooter Segraves, Carl Smith and the late Glenn Condon during a celebration Tuesday, August 30. The second annual Tulsa Radio Icons will be held at the Tulsa Press Club, located in the Atlas Life Building at 415 S. Boston from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Phil Stone and Brent Douglas, KMOD's colorful morning duo, will return as hosts. Billy Parker, from the inaugural class of Tulsa Radio Icons, will serve as honorary chairman. Chuck Adams was first heard on the air in Stockton, CA at the age of 14. Adams worked at Tulsa station KRMG from 1964 to 1971. His morning show helped take the station to first place in the market. Adams mixed his clever but genial personality with quirky features to help set the standard for morning show DJs. After leaving KRMG, he went on to work at stations in San Antonio, Houston and New Orleans. He is now retired and living in Lexington, KY. Jack Campbell began his radio career in 1945. Campbell brought his talents to Tulsa in 1955 to host KVOO's "Sleepwalkers Serenade" program. His all night classical music show, "Pleasant Dreams," lasted from 1957 to 1966. In 1971, he moved into the KVOO newsroom, remaining there until his retirement in 1994. Campbell worked for KVOO for 39 years in all. Ben Henneke successfully secured funding from oilman William G. Skelly to put public radio station KWGS on the air in 1947. Henneke also authored the nation's first textbook on radio, "The Radio Announcer's Handbook." He went on to become president of the University of Tulsa in 1958. Henneke retired from that position in 1967 and from teaching in 1979. Len Morton's first radio job was broadcasting American Legion baseball from the first base sideline in Altus, OK. He went on to become one of Tulsa's best-known sports broadcasters of all time. He became Channel 2's sports director in 1956, then went on to announce play-by-play for the University of Tulsa football and basketball games, and he broadcast the first football game ever played at the Houston Astrodome. From 1962 to 1973, Morton was the voice of Tulsa Oiler baseball on KVOO. Scooter Segraves was just a sophomore at the University of Tulsa when he was hired to do overnights on the city's fledgling rock station, KAKC. To this day, his name is one of the most recognized in Tulsa radio history. After leaving Tulsa, he continued his successful career at stations in Memphis, New Orleans, San Bernardino, CA and Lafayette, LA. Currently, Segraves is the soon-to-be-retired production director for Citadel Broadcasting in Lafayette.
Glenn Condon will receive a posthumous honor. Condon, who was known as the "Dean of Tulsa Journalists" and "Mr. Oklahoma News," began his career as a Western Union messenger in Oklahoma City. In Tulsa, Condon inaugurated the first sports column in a Tulsa newspaper, published "Radio Waves" magazine, co-founded KOME and put the "C" in KAKC. He served as news editor at KTUL-TV and was president of both the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters and the Tulsa Press Club in the same year. He also ran the KRMG news department from 1949 until his retirement in 1963. Condon passed away in 1968. Sponsors of Tulsa Radio Icons include Public Service Company of Oklahoma, Public Radio Tulsa and Showtime Networks Inc. Tickets are $15, and the event includes a cash bar. To purchase tickets or receive more information, contact the Tulsa Press Club either by phone at (918) 583-7737 or email tulpress@swbell.net. |
Here is Scooter's
message to the Tulsa Radio Icons event in