I got involved with KFAI around 1989, in the last months of the studios (a former dentist office) on the corner of Bloomington and East Lake St. in Minneapolis. I co-hosted the Friday night show Radio Rumpus Room with Jean Silverberg for around 17 years, until we retired the show on May 30, 2010. Jean and I were also in charge of pledge premium fullfillment for 10 years — 20 pledge drives — mailing out over 500 CDs each drive. In 2010 I was named the NFCB (National Federation of Community Broadcasters) Volunteer of the Year, one of two KFAI volunteers ever to have received the award. I served as KFAI’s Interim Program Director through the summer of 2011. After a few years’ break from regular weekly hosting — staying active as a volunteer in the meantime — I returned to the airwaves in February 2013 to co-host the Tuesday Morning Blend (6-8 am).
I finished up a decade — five full terms — of serving on KFAI’s Program Committee in 2014. In mid-November of that year I retired as a Morning Blend producer when I was asked to serve as KFAI’s interim General Manager. The promised 2-3 month gig ended up lasting just over nine months. The stint provided me a drivers seat opportunity to appreciate the work and responsibilities that go into running a successful community radio station.
I handed off the reins to the new GM at the end of July 2015. After that I substituted for other hosts on occasion, participated in membership drives — taking the lead on a couple — and generally kept involved with administration. In November 2017 I felt I needed to do more, so ran for (and was elected to) a two-year term on the KFAI Board of Directors, where I served as Secretary. That gig lasted till late June 2019, when my Board stint was cut short as I was asked to (once more) serve as KFAI’s interim General Manager. We are at the one-year mark and the GM selection process grinds on. We’ll see what my KFAI future holds…
