Radio days

Last Thursday evening, July 14, I enjoyed the pleasure of an invitation to a reception that introduced Arcadia Publishing's newest volume in its ongoing Images of America series. The book is entitled Philadelphia Radio, and it was written by local radio historian Alan Boris. Alan actually wrote the book at the request of Arcadia Publishing, whose executives were impressed by Alan's popular Philadelphia Radio Archives website.



The first photo shows Alan signing copies of his book at his reception, which was hosted by my good friend Bob Boris (Alan's dad) and Bob's wife Linda, also a dear friend. The reception was held at the headquarters of WHYY, Philadelphia's public television and radio station. By the way, Bob and Linda send a special thanks to their longtime friend Bill Marrazzo, WHYY's President and CEO, for allowing the use of WHYY's ground-floor lobby for Alan's event.



The second photo shows Alan's book, a 128-page trade paperback that contains hundreds of photographs, promotional ads, historic behind-the-scenes images, and other compelling visual esoteria that immerse the reader in the world of Philadelphia radio from its dawn over a century ago to the present. And all the visuals are tied together by countless interesting and entertaining anecdotes and facts. I've only dove into the book a little so far, and can't wait until I officially start reading it from cover to cover, after wrapping up one or two current reading assignments.



The final photograph shows my friend Bob Boris standing next to artwork he and his wife Linda have loaned to WHYY to display in its lobby. I couldn't resist taking a short break from Alan's recepion to snap a photo of Bob and his art. Bob and Linda are renowned art collectors here in Philadelphia, and their loaned artwork graces many, many offices throughout the city.

Anyway, getting back to the topic at hand, if you're at all interested in the book's subject, I heartily recommend that you pick up a copy of Philadelphia Radio, which is officially priced at $21.99, but available for much less at many bookstores and history-oriented gift shops, as well as online. In fact, Amazon is currently offering the book for a mere $16.05.

And no, the book isn't yet available on Kindle or other e-book platforms, but don't let that stop you. The visual-heavy nature of Philadelphia Radio makes it a more natural fit for the nice paper and quality print job delivered by Arcadia.

So... great book, grab it up. You heard it here first!