Being a child of the Great Depression, Walt has never been comfortable with having just one job.

"…I can remember what a catastrophe it was when anyone in the family lost a job. Probably I went to the other extreme, making sure I always kept many irons in the fire."
(Walt Bodine, My Time, My Town)

He’s been called the consummate freelancer and it may just be true.In addition to radio, television and print Walt has occasionally moonlighted in gag writing, advertising and political consulting.

Many Irons Indeed

Even before he left WDAF in 1965, he found time to cook up (and participate in) side projects like the following, a whimsical condensation of a Shakespearian tragedy.

Listen: One Minute Hamlet
From Marr Sound Archives, UMKC

While working one day a week on Sunday Town Hall, Walt managed a number of different jobs on a number of local radio and television stations.

He also spent a year with the Fremerman-Papin advertising agency, working on political campaigns and other accounts, including Seitz Meats.

Read: Landing a big account
From My Times, My Town

From 1974 to 1979 he served as regional director for the National Council of Christians and Jews, a human relations organization dedicated to fighting bias, bigotry and racism. (In 1998, the organization changed its name to the National Conference for Community and Justice.)

Bodine and his wife Bernadine both served on the Jackson County Board for the Mentally Disabled.