Assistants To The Archivist

Over the years I've done all the archive work myself ... slaved over a hot open reel recorder, suffered through the outages of Warner Cable, and whipped up blank reels of audio tape from scratch ... and if you believe all that, I have a bridge to sell you. :)

A number of people have helped me get tapes over the years. Sometimes they were better quality ones than my cable company made it possible for me to get ... my cable company that can't be bothered to carry KPFK anymore -- thank you so much, Time Warner Cable of Bakersfield. At least Hour 25 is now on the web so we all can hear it, cable company or not.

So, who are these masked men and women who have made the difference, mailed tapes through sleet and snow, spent hours trying to figure out why the heck doesn't that blasted computer record the show like I set it up to, and who knows what else? Now, in no particular order, you get to find out.

Janice Jacobson

I met Janice through Hour 25 several decades ago, the early 1980's. She's been a tremendous help keeping the archives going, not only by giving and trading tapes with me, but with moral support as well. I also want to thank her for all the very enjoyable phone calls and just plain old fashioned being a great friend. Now if I can just steal the part of her brain that knows how to write -- I'll have it made!

Ralph Evans

Around 1993 our local cable company, Time Warner Cable, decided they could no longer be bothered with carrying the L.A. F.M. radio stations they'd been carrying for more than a quarter century. I called in on Hour 25 and asked the "The Group Mind" for help. Very shortly thereafter I met Ralph who for nearly a decade taped the show for me thereby keeping the archives alive. He began by using video tape and we got quite a good system going. Early in 2000 he found Loop Recorder and in March began putting the show on his computer. He went through hell, or a very good approximation thereof doing it. Computers can be wonderful but they can also be a major pain in the ass - Ralph and I, mostly Ralph, got regular reminders of this as he spent hours trying to figure out why things didn't work when it seemed they should. Thank you VERY much Ralph for all your time and help!

Roy Hooper

Another helper was Roy Hooper. I don't know where he is now, but he provided a lot of tapes for shows I had problems with and, even after I accidentally ruined his master copy of one show, he still kept speeking to me. To this day I don't know why, much less how, the recorder recorded sound over the tape it was playing back but ... Ah, the wonders of used open reel decks.

Marc Wielage

It's been so long since I talked to Marc that I don't have his name written down; I hope I've spelled it right. Whether I have or not, he was also a huge help with the archives. While he provided a few tapes, he was even more helpful on the equipment end; he sold me my first and only high speed, dual side, Dolby record, dubbing deck. I got the chance to visit him a few times and I've never seen so much stuff in one place. He even had a satellite dish, which was very unusual back then. I also got to see what digital audio looks like when played back on a TV; black and white, lines going up the screen, looking a little like grooves in a record, if I remember correctly. We almost got me recording the show on 8mm D.A.T. tape but that proved to be out of my price range, so I stuck with open reel recorders.

James Van Hise

As was the case with other people, he helped me get some tapes of shows I missed or that got messed up. What I remember most is him helping me get to Mike Hodel's funeral. I don't drive so getting a ride makes a big difference.

Warren James

Another person who helped me is now the host of Hour 25. Back around 1982 or so Warren sent me a tape of the show with The L.A. Filkharmonic so I'd have a good stereo copy. Maxell C-120s can be wonderful. I got to meet him at a convention, and he even came up here several times and talked to our science fiction club. [Hmmmm, can we say kiss up to the current host?]

There are others who helped too, I'm sorry I can't remember all of you right now. I want to tell all of the people who helped me, listed or not, thank you. The archives would still be here but not as complete and not sounding as good if you hadn't helped.

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