Larry Josephson
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Norman Lawrence Josephson (May 12, 1939 – July 27, 2022) was an American public radio producer. From 1965, he worked in the field of public broadcasting as a producer, host, station manager, engineer, teacher, writer, and consultant. His first show at listener-supported radio station
WBAI WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic musi ...
in New York was influential in developing the free-form radio style of the 1960s and 1970s.


Early life

Josephson was born and raised in Los Angeles, where he attended Alexander Hamilton High School. He once claimed his high school major was "existential calisthenics". He attended the
University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
where he received a BA in Linguistics with a minor in Mathematics, which he did not complete until 1973. He was a systems analyst and programmer with IBM from 1962 to 1964.


WBAI

Unhappy with his lonely life as an engineer in a cubicle at IBM, he volunteered at
WBAI WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic musi ...
 – a listener-supported radio station in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. By 1966 he was the host of ''In the Beginning'', the "grumpy" morning program. He had become one of the station's most popular personalities. His morning shows, like those of late night's
Bob Fass Robert Morton Fass (June 29, 1933 – April 24, 2021) was an American radio personality and pioneer of free-form radio, who broadcast in the New York region for over 50 years. Fass's program, ''Radio Unnameable'', aired in some form from 1963 u ...
and
Steve Post Steve Post (20 March 1944 – 3 August 2014) was an American freeform radio artist and the author of ''Playing in the FM Band''. Early life Post, born in the Bronx, became fascinated by radio at about the age of 8 or 10, recording 'broadcasts' o ...
, became the archetypes of the station's free-form style, which became the precursor to much of the alternative FM radio programming which started in the 1960s and 1970s. Audience members would wake up to whatever caught Josephson's fancy each day. For example, after the release of
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
' "
Lady Madonna "Lady Madonna" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. In March 1968 it was released as a mono non-album single, backed with " The Inner Light". The song was recor ...
" in March 1968, Josephson liked the song so much that he played it over and over for two hours. Josephson became the Assistant Manager of WBAI, and oversaw the design and construction of the station when it moved to a new location in 1971. He was the General Manager of the station from 1974 until 1976. ''In the Beginning'' continued until 1972. Another of Josephson's shows ''Bourgeois Liberation'' ran on WBAI from 1979 to 1984. Between 1972 and 1974, Josephson hosted a program on
KPFA KPFA (94.1 FM) is a public, listener-funded talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station signed o ...
in
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...
, where his shows on
Little People of America Little People of America (LPA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which provides support, resources, and information to individuals with dwarfism and their families. Founding LPA was founded in 1957 by actor Billy Barty when he informally ca ...
helped to win him first prize in the Major Armstrong Radio Awards, administered by Columbia University, in the category of noncommercial community radio. After a five-year absence from New York City airwaves, Josephson returned in 1989 with ''Modern Times'', a two-hour talk show on
WNYC WNYC is an audio service brand, under the control of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization. Radio and other audio programming is primarily provided by a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations: WNYC (AM) and WNYC- ...
that also aired in California and Iowa and ran to 1993.


Bob & Ray

Josephson worked to revive the careers of Bob & Ray. He developed and produced 26 half-hour public radio shows called ''Classic Bob & Ray'' which surveyed their entire career. He also developed and produced ''The Bob and Ray Public Radio Show'' from 1981 until 1986. This show was broadcast on 250 stations and received several awards, including a 1982
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
. The show, was later nominated for three
Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
after it was released on cassettes. In 1984 Josephson produced ''Bob & Ray: A Night of Two Stars'' at
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
in New York City. Both performances were sold out, and an audio cassette produced from the performance was nominated for a Grammy.


Teaching, seminars, consulting, and writing

Josephson taught radio production at
NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a non-denominational all-male institutio ...
and
The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...
. With funding from the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB; stylized as cpb) is an American publicly funded non-profit corporation, created in 1967 to promote and help support public broadcasting. The corporation's mission is to ensure universal access to ...
and the
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...
, he co-produced the ''Airlie Seminars on the Art of Radio'' four times between 1977 and 1983. He is also the editor of ''Telling the Story, NPR's Guide to Journalism'' published in 1981. He has also served as a consultant to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
,
NTIA The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is a bureau of the United States Department of Commerce that serves as the President of the United States, president's principal adviser on Telecommunications policy of the U ...
and individual public radio stations. With the help of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the
New York State Council on the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) serves to foster and advance the arts, culture, and creativity throughout New York State, according to its website. The goal of the council is to allow all New Yorkers to benefit from the contribution ...
, Josephson amassed a large recording-tape library of 1970s and 1980s "talking machine sounds" such as phone services like The Big Apple Report and The Story Lady as well as other kinds of recorded voices, which Josephson found so disturbing that he titled his project Vox Inhumana.


Personal life and death

Josephson was married to, and divorced from, Charity Alker and Valerie Magyar. He had one daughter, Jennie, a radio and TV producer. He died from complications of
Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...
at a care facility in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
on July 27, 2022, aged 83.


Radio productions

* ''In the Beginning'' –
WBAI WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic musi ...
, 1966–72 * ''The Colgate Human Comedy Hour'' –
KPFA KPFA (94.1 FM) is a public, listener-funded talk radio and music radio station located in Berkeley, California, broadcasting to the San Francisco Bay Area. KPFA airs public news, public affairs, talk, and music programming. The station signed o ...
, 1972–73 * ''The Little People or Think Big'' – KPFA, a documentary about a visit to a dwarf convention. Received an Armstrong Award. * ''Bourgeois Liberation'' – WBAI, 1979–84 * ''Classic Bob & Ray'' * ''The Bob and Ray Public Radio Show'' – 1981–86 * ''Modern Times'' –
KCRW KCRW (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an NPR member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming ...
,
WNYC WNYC is an audio service brand, under the control of New York Public Radio, a non-profit organization. Radio and other audio programming is primarily provided by a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations: WNYC (AM) and WNYC- ...
,
American Public Radio Public Radio International (PRI) was an American public radio organization. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, PRI provided programming to over 850 public radio stations in the United States. PRI was one of the main providers of programmin ...
1988–93 * ''BRIDGES: A Liberal/Conservative Dialogue'' – CPB 1994–1999. * ''Bloomsday on Broadway'' (with Isaiah Sheffer) – live marathon readings of
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
's
Ulysses Ulysses is the Latin name for Odysseus, a legendary Greek hero recognized for his intelligence and cunning. He is famous for his long, adventurous journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, as narrated in Homer's Odyssey. Ulysses may also refer ...
. 1981–91. * ''What Is a Jew?'' 1999 * ''Only in America'' – a 6-hour history of Jewish-Americans


References


External links


RadioArt.org
nbsp;– a division of the Radio Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit radio production company founded by Larry Josephson *  – a division of the Radio Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit radio production company founded by Larry Josephson
BobandRay
at
archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Josephson, Larry 1939 births 2022 deaths American radio producers American radio personalities Deaths from Parkinson's disease in New York (state) Radio personalities from New York City Pacifica Foundation people University of California, Berkeley alumni Writers from Los Angeles