Posts Tagged ‘Bob Larsen’
Gordon Mehlman Shares Memories of WGBH Engineering Innovations
When I applied to WGBH in 1968, I had already interacted with the engineering department and so was lucky enough to be hired immediately.
Read MoreThe Money Room: How I Got There
John Kerr: Having finished college in 1960, I locked my Ideor racing bike to a post near Tech Drugs and climbed the stairs at 84 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge.
Read MoreThe Almost-Forgotten Shows and People of WGBH
A collection of “less remembered shows” and people who appeared on, or worked for, WGBH, remembered by Fred Barzyk, Michael Ambrosino, Boyd Estus, Doug Smith, and Bruce Bordett
Read MoreThe foundations of WGBH: 84 Mass. Ave.
From Don Hallock: Many extraordinarily-gifted figures and luminaries of the day — in the arts, science, politics and education — found their ways into the halls and studios of the original WGBH-TV/FM studios at 84 Massachusetts Avenue.
Read MoreWGBH Pioneers: Michael Ambrosino – Part 2 (1998)
Michael Ambrosino — the creator of NOVA — describes his early years at WGBH, an era of live and live-on-tape TV productions at the 84 Massachusetts Avenue studio in Cambridge.
Read MoreWGBH Pioneers: Michael Ambrosino – Part 1 (1998)
Michael Ambrosino — the creator of NOVA — describes his early years at WGBH, an era of live and live-on-tape TV productions at the 84 Massachusetts Avenue studio in Cambridge.
Read MoreBuilding a Network: EEN (1961-64)
WGBH: The Early Years Skating Around the Rink (1956-60) Building a Network: EEN (1961-64) Going Public (1964-70) From Michael Ambrosino Ed: This is the second of three excerpts from Michael Ambrosino’s autobiography. In the first part, Skating Around the Rink, he described the early years at WGBH, an era of live and live-on-tape TV productions…
Read MoreGoing Public (1964-1970)
From Michael Ambrosino: I’ve never considered myself an intellectual; my memory and thought processes are just not good enough for true intellectual work. I do, however, have an insatiable curiosity and enjoy the world of ideas.
Read MorePortraits from the ’60s
From Don Hallock Here’s a collection of images rediscovered by Steve Gilford in May, 2002. The captions are largely in his own words. Photos credited, where available. From Steve Gilford As for the Conference Room, when we moved into 125 Western, I was so struck by the size of the conference room table, I took…
Read MoreLiving Places of the Not-so-rich and Occasionally Infamous (1957-63)
From Don Hallock Just around the corner from the former Zebra Lounge, (the present-day Crossroads Tavern, shown in this photo to the right of center) was a pair of apartments at 27 1/2 Massachussetts Avenue, over a greasy spoon eating place which shared a kitchen with the Zebra. The second floor was occupied by Bill…
Read MoreThe BSO and Master Control (1957)
From Faith Klein “You Tell Me!” Reading other anecdotes reminded me of the time I was floor manager for a remote at Kresge Auditorium when Charles Munch was conducting the Boston Pops. Bob Larsen told me over the ear phones — as I was backstage watching CM before the performance was to begin — “Ok…
Read MoreStories and photos From Studio A (1955)
Images From John (Rocky) Coe Bob Larsen in Studio A Control Room (with Judy Larsen in the background) — August 1955 Story by Michael Greenebaum Performance — String group — Nov. 1955 The photo of the chamber orchestra … is of the first televised concert of Harvard’s Bach Society Orchestra, conducted by me. For all…
Read MoreI’ve Been Reading (late 1950s)
From Paul Noble Here’s a true story related to me by Bob Larsen about Norbert Wiener. Norbert Wiener and Isaac Asimov were a frequent pair on programs as diverse as I’ve Been Reading and Science Reporter. Each would request the other to join him when being interviewed. One day, Bob Larsen received a post card…
Read MoreThe 1961 WGBH Fire
From Don Hallock In the early morning hours of October 14, 1961, a raging fire at the 84 Massachusetts Avenue studios of WGBH completely destroyed the facility. WGBH FM and TV were located in the second and third floors of a three story roller former skating rink. The fire, which began in the studio-A area,…
Read MoreDave Davis’ “Creativity” Memo (1958)
From the collection of Dave Nohling Click on the images to see the original memo. Read the text, below. Memorandum July 23, 1958 To: TV producer-directors From: David M. Davis Subject: Creativity I have a great concern that we are not all utilizing the creative imagination that we have to make our programs interesting, stimulating,…
Read MoreDiscovering Discovery (1956)
From Don Hallock This 1956 film about the making of Mary Lela Grimes (Sherburne’s) kinescoped NET series on science for children was resurrected for the reunion. It is a show within a film, showcasing the 84 Massachusetts Avenue facility and many of our best remembered WGBH friends. A teleprompter mounted on the front of Frank…
Read MoreThen and Now (1955-2000)
From Don Hallock The Buildings Then: The station in 1958, occupying a rather dusty second and third floor roller-skating rink in an old brick building located opposite MIT at 84 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. (Photo by Brooks Leffler.) In 2000, WGBH sprawled over extensive real estate near Harvard. This is the main studio building at 125…
Read More40 years with ‘GBH
From Michael Ambrosino — 2000 My first visit to WGBH was in the fall of 1955, just after TV had gone on the air at 84 Mass Ave. in Cambridge. I was at work developing a TV master plan for the University of Connecticut at the time, and wanted a tour of one of the…
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