Re: Talk Radio and the American Dream

[RadioTony@aol.com]

I knew Murray pretty well after taking his course on political consultants in 1998 at Harvard Extension School. He was a long-time professor at Boston University [not Northeastern] but after retirement, taught a class at the Extension School and Princeton, just for fun. He passed away a couple of years ago, leaving behind a young, teenage son. I have been looking for his "Talk Radio" book but I haven't been able to find it. He was the first person to track "alienated" voters in his book about the 1959 Boston Mayoral race. He also predicted the rise of independent voters and is one of the only liberals who ever criticized the Kennedy's, in his two books about Ted and the family. His last book, "Teach Me!" about his volunteer work at a Roxbury school for troubled youth is a real eye-opener to a world many Americans never see. During his class, I taped his speeches and talks so that he could use them for his political consulting book but lost touch with him a few months after finishing up his class.
In a message dated 3/9/2003 11:04:23 AM Eastern Standard Time, raccoonradio@yahoo.com writes:
> > > With Jerry Williams' recent re-appearance on WRKO, I> got to thinking about a book I used to have, which> talked about Jerry and Avi Nelson as well. It was> called Talk Radio And the American Dream by Murray B.> Levin (who I think is/was a professor at> Northeastern). Anyone else remember this book?> > I think I traded in my copy (at a used bookstore)> years ago. (Book came out in '87). It's probably still> at some libraries; also, you can try getting a used> copy online. If I were to re-read it, I'd probably> say, "Boy, is this dated", because talk radio back> then was a bit different from> what it is now. Not as "shocking", more substance than> entertainment/shtick, more activist (remember Jerry's> rallies against New Braintree prison, and his> "call your congressmen about this" pleas?)> > Jerry didn't have a chumpline, "Is Ted in the House?",> Ted Kennedy "uh" contests, etc. Times were different> back then. In some ways people could say talk radio is> better; in some ways, worse...> > (By the way, Jerry has mentioned that in the old> days, you only could hear ONE side of the> conversation. I guess they were not allowed to put> callers on the air. Could you imagine _that_> on talk radio today?)