Pinky's Corner Goes Back to the Future...48 Years Later

Pinky's Corner Goes Back to the Future...48 Years Later

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., March 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine opening a time capsule from nearly 50 years ago in front of the very people who created it.

That's what will happen on the March 30 edition of Pinky's Corner on News/Talk 1400 WOND from 4 to 6 p.m.

In 1964, when he was a schoolteacher by day and a talk show host by night, Pinky Kravitz broke from his usual format of nighttime chats with celebrated figures from the entertainment and political worlds and took his Wollensak reel-to-reel tape recorder into Central Junior High School.

Kravitz spent nearly an hour chatting with four students - Arthur Freeman, 13, Dennis Oldroyd, 12, Sharon Waters, 13, and Yaderia Rosada, 12 - sampling their views on everything from the nuclear arms race between the United States and the former Soviet Union to the Democratic National Convention that was coming to Atlantic City that summer to the much-anticipated Aug. 31 concert that would bring The Beatles to Atlantic City for their first and only Boardwalk concert.

It was, like most of Kravitz's 13,000+ radio shows over the past 54 years, informative and entertaining - but after so many years - forgotten.

Until now.

The original tape of that fascinating conversation with the four students was recently discovered as WOND staffers were preparing a daylong broadcast celebration of the legacy radio station's 60+ years of broadcasting.

What's just as remarkable as the discovery of the tape was learning that three of the four students - one is deceased - are still living in the area.

They've agreed to appear on Kravitz's March 30 show, where they'll spend the first hour listening to the original recording and the second hour reminiscing with Kravitz about their memories of the day the show was recorded 48 years ago.

"It was an amazing broadcast, and we were surprised by the maturity of the teens," said Dave Coskey, president and general manager of Longport Media, the parent company of WOND. "They had strong opinions on so many topics. They were all so impressive. We couldn't let that show just sit. We wanted to find a way to showcase both the broadcast and Pinky's incredible legacy."

Kravitz, whose 54 years behind the microphone makes Pinky's Corner one of the longest-running radio talk shows in the country, "absolutely" remembers making that show in 1964, which is an achievement in and of itself considering he has sat in his radio "corner" more than 13,000 times.

"I always thought that it was important to get the perspective of our young people," Kravitz said recently from his current broadcast location at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. "We actually recorded that segment at Central Junior High. It's a school that's long gone from the Atlantic City landscape. But we were always proud of our students. This was especially true on that particular day."

While finding the tape of that long-lost show was exciting, discovering that three of the four students were still in the area - and then tracking them down - was almost a miracle, Coskey said.

"The fact that this is one of only a handful of Pinky's shows that have managed to survive the years is great," explained Coskey. "But what are the chances that some or the entire group that got together nearly 50 years ago are still around, and can even be found?"

Kravitz said it was fairly easy to locate the two boys who were on the show. Finding the girls proved more of a challenge because they had married and were no longer using their maiden names.

"So we did what we've done hundreds of times over the years. We asked for help from our listeners," the talk show host explained.

Kravitz got a call within 24 hours from one of the students, now Sharon Waters Pratt, 61, and the arrangements to reunite the host with his guests of 48 year ago were quickly concluded.

In addition to their reunion with Kravitz, it will be the first time the former students have seen one another since they graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1969.

"I can't believe it," Kravitz added. "I can't wait for the show. It's going to be a wonderful opportunity for all of us. It's not often in life that we get the opportunity to go back and relive a moment from the past, especially after almost 50 years. We are blessed to have that opportunity. I'm sure that this will be a special experience for us all and I'm excited to once again share it with my listeners."

WHO: Pinky Kravitz - who has been hosting Pinky's Corner on WOND for 54 years, along with three former junior high school students who were guests on one particular show 48 years earlier.
WHAT: A re-broadcast of the original program, followed by an on-air reunion of the show's participants.
WHEN: Friday, March 30, 2012 4:00PM
WHERE: Live: from Borgata in Studio 1 in the Borgata Event Center
Radio: News/Talk 1400AM WOND
Online: www.wondradio.com
WHY: Part of a day-long celebration of WOND's 60+ years of broadcasting in southern New Jersey. In addition to Pinky's Corner, the station will host a special reunion program from 6-10PM featuring on-air personalities and classic commercials that aired on WOND from the 1960's, '70s and '80s.

ABOUT LONGPORT MEDIA, LLC

LONGPORT MEDIA LLC. is a communications company formed in May of 2011. The corporation is owned and operated by investors from the Atlantic City and greater southern New Jersey area. Longport Media is committed to presenting quality programming that is informative, as well as entertaining and provocative. There is a strong commitment to serve our community as responsible neighbors - in part, by giving a voice to non-profit groups and community organizations. Longport Media took control of radio stations WOND, WMGM, WTKU, WWAC and WBSS on May 13, 2011. Collectively, our stations inform and entertain just about every demographic in the South Jersey area. These five stations are now programmed and broadcast live from Green Broadcast Plaza in Linwood, NJ.

SOURCE Longport Media, LLC

Longport Media, LLC

CONTACT: Noel Stevenson, +1-609-653-1400 x111, nstevenson@longportmedia.com

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