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A nose for news, an eye on radio

The Linwood-Troost neighborhood was also where Walt began to develop his nose for news. As a grade schooler, he created a single-edition, hand-printed, weekly newspaper that he would charge a penny to read. When one "subscriber" was finished, Walt would snatch it back and move on to the next.

My best story came from an older kid who told me about a giant bird that lurked in the trees in our neighborhood. Every now and then, my source said, the bird dived toward earth to pick something up with its giant claws. That was big news.
(My Times, My Town)

Unfortunately, with no other witnesses coming forward, coverage of the giant bird soon came to an end. But Walt’s news career had begun.

Walt’s first broadcasting experience came when he was all of eight years old. His Aunt Maude, who played piano for a local radio program, asked Walt to help her perform the novelty song “I Faw Down an’ Go Boom.”

Even though he found the microphone intimidating, the radio bug had bit him good.

Years later, Walt’s father converted one corner of Bodine's Drugstore into a bus station, adding a public address system. Walt used the new system to prepare for a career.

Listen: Reading the News
From an interview with author Tim McCourt, 6-6-2003

After graduating from high school in 1938, Walt dreaded telling his father that, instead of the drug store business, he wanted to pursue acting. It may have had something to do with all those overly generous malteds, but much to Walt’s surprise, his father supported him. Walt signed up at the Jewish Community Center’s Resident Theater; but the school closed after a year when the instructor left to start an apple farm.

A friend suggested that he try radio. What the friend didn't know was that Walt had already been practicing in the car since he was old enough to drive.

After almost two years of talking to announcers, radio station managers and generally shaking the trees, he would finally get a break.

Written by Eric Mater/Lee Ingalls