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' on his father's

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tape recorder, using names such as Paige Turner. Upon his mother's death of cancer, when Post was 10, he was sent for a time to a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

in New Jersey. An indifferent student, by his own account, he eventually graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School.

Career

Post was a pioneer and a trailblazer in freeform radio at WBAI-FM in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Bob Fass, drawing his inspiration from Jean Shepherd, initially transformed and redefined the form and its possibilities, and Fass, Post, and

Larry Josephson 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 ...

, a sort of informal, free-floating, quasi-magical creative triumvirate, then pushed the possibilities significantly further in the artistic, cultural, and political turmoil of the time. Post was, ‘a legendary New York broadcaster’ who, through his years first at WBAI and then at WNYC, was a ‘wry, one-of-a-kind’ personality', a ‘creative genius’ who showed ‘extreme personal courage’, who presented a ‘combination of warmth, bitterness, intelligence, mordant humor, and brilliantly on-target observations’, who ‘didn’t care about fairness, objectivity, balance, the canons of journalism’, who ‘just said whatever the hell came into his mind’, and who formed a deep ‘personal connection… with… listeners scattered around the New York area.’ Post’s style was at the core wry, witty, and sardonic – ‘curmudgeonly’. If

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

had famously said that he never met a man he didn’t like, Post said no such thing – indeed, he quoted Hobbes as an influence, saying ‘I believe people are essentially brutal, murderous, lying bastards who put on masks of civility to make society work.’ Post, who was 'the undisputed king of on-air fund raising', 'raised millions for public radio.' He also formed an extraordinarily close, seemingly personal, link with his listeners. 'In a radio age when personality means rant, hysteria, terminal adolescence and unrelieved, unbelievable perkiness, Post is a person. He’s depressed. He kvetches. He whines.' His resonant voice, his skill, his talent, his ''connection'' with his listeners, meant that 'as is true with some of the best radio people', his fans had the sense that 'they were the only one or members of a very small group.' In the course of his on-air career, Post was host/producer of: * ''The Outside'' – WBAI * ''Room 101'' – WBAI * ''Morning Music'' – WNYC * ''The No Show'' – WNYC Post lived with his wife of 38 years, Laura Rosenberg, on New York's Upper West Side. Post, who presented '...a quirky combination of music and commentary that defied almost every programing rule of radio', and who was '... one of New York Radio's all-time great contrarians...' died 3 August 2014, age 70.New York Daily News 4 August 2014
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Bibliography

*''Playing in the FM Band: A personal account of free radio'' – Viking Press, 1974,

References

External links

New York Times – Bio/Essay/Obituary

New York Daily News – Bio/Essay/Obituary

Remembering Steve Post: The Brian Lehrer Show – with audio

The No Show
– WNYC website *
Photo Retrospective
– WNYC website
"Morning Music" audio segments of Steve Post as heard over WNYC.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Post, Steve NPR personalities American memoirists Radio personalities from New York City People from the Bronx 1944 births 2014 deaths DeWitt Clinton High School alumni