WKXL has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Growing up in the Concord, New Hampshire of the late 50’s and 60’s, the dulcet tones of Jim Jeannotte, Gardner Hill and Dick Osborn were as familiar as those of my local teachers.
My mother, daily, listened to Arthur Godfrey’s program which was aired over what was known as “The Radio Voice of the Capital, the sound of music and information…..” It seemed everyone in town listened to “Coffee Chat” the morning talk program where a litany of interesting locals talked about just how much was actually going on in what some perceived as a sleepy, dull city. I was even a guest in the fall of 1982.
WKXL is still with us – somewhat edgier and often surprising, which is a good thing. Change is always good and I still listen, daily, never knowing quite what to expect.
A couple of years ago I wrote a book entitled, “Was That a Name I Dropped?” Mostly I did it for the discipline connected with writing and to see whether I could really do it. The Nuns at Bishop Brady High School had scoffed at my notions of wanting to be a writer and Sister Mary Leonard, the Guidance Counselor, laughed outright at the suggestion. “You’re not talented or gifted enough to do anything like that. You need to find something realistic and settle for that” was her advice.
Amazingly I found a publisher who liked my book – all 536 pages of it – and paid me to unleash it upon an unsuspecting public. Even more surprising, thousands upon thousands of people paid money to buy a copy and read it, many then taking the time to write me effusive letters of praise. It spent a little time at number one on Amazon.
I didn’t kid myself that I was a great writer. Apparently I hit a nerve or tapped into something that interested a portion of the reading public. The response, however, made me grateful that I’d shared my story in an honest and direct way.
The easiest parts to write were the chapters dealing with the Concord I knew and loved as I grew up. Something very unique was happening in this city of less than 30,000 and I relished the opportunities presented.
From the time I was 15, I worked at the Concord Theatre and got to know a great many of the hundreds of thousands of patrons who made their way through the Theatre’s South Main Street doors, taking a seat in chairs that had been there since the theatre opened in 1934, and losing themselves in whatever attraction was flickering on the big screen.
I savored being a part of downtown Concord whether shopping, stuffing French Fries in my mouth at one of the luncheon counters in Main Street’s three Five and Dime stores, and buying the latest comic book or movie magazine. To my young mind, Concord had everything.
My ramblings for WKXL will run the gamut from fond remembrances of a city I knew and experienced to comments and opinions about the evolution of Concord. I’ll also share experiences that may either make the reader smile or occasionally stir their wrath. What I’ll always do is be completely honest.
I don’t have an agenda except to educate, inform, enlighten or amuse.
I’m not a local business owner, nor do I work for the city or state government or aspire to run for office. I do not receive compensation for my writings. I merely feel that in a society where more and more frequently we lose our connections with our past or what’s right there in front of us, thanks to a plethora of electronic devices that consume more and more time, that sharing knowledge is still of value. Maybe the fifty plus years I have lived in Concord and what I write about will make you want to turn off that pager, cell phone or other device for a few minutes and take a journey with me.
