04-19-18, 19:02 pm

Alaskans have ridden high on the 21st-century wave of information technology -- a dramatic tidal shift in the way we live and work. Most of us these days would feel somewhat incomplete without our iPhones, internet, cable and streaming video. But another mode of communication, radio, has stood the test of time. It is as relevant today as it was in the 1920s when the Territory of Alaska's first commercial stations were established: KGBU in Ketchikan and KFQD in Anchorage. And as more stations came on the air in the 1940s -- KFAR in Fairbanks and KENI in Anchorage, colorful personalities began to emerge. Fairbanks' station KFAR, for example, had two creative geniuses -- Ed Stevens and Ruben Gaines -- who simulated "live" coverage of baseball games. Their play-by-play announcing made it sound as if the coverage were live, which would have been impossible because back then there were no satellites. The pair received information about the game ahead of time by telephone and teletype. With crowd-cheering sound effects, as well as tapping a screwdriver head on a piece of board to simulate the sound of balls being hit by the bat, they made the games sound real -- pitch by pitch, inning by inning. Broadcaster Genie Chance, on what was then 550 AM KENI, remained on the air for more than 35 continuous hours following the quake, with the station running on a backup generator and a damaged transmitter. Ham radio operators across the state relayed important information for rescue coordination during the hours and days to follow. Today they continue to play a critically important role in statewide emergency response and coordination.

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