KRAB-FM, Seattle - Programs: Readings from Books, Magazines, and Newspapers

From The Stalingrad Letters to Mortuary Monthly; Esquire to I F Stone Weekly; the Martian Chronicles to the Chronicles of Narnia . . . . .

The Murderer, by Ray Bradbury - read by Rory Funke - KRAB Sep 17, 1963

It was 1963. There was no smart-cellphone, FaceBook, Foursquare, Twitter, or Borg. There were writers of science fiction, many of whom postulated a future of technological wonders, but had serious doubts about how those wonders would benefit society and "civilization". Ray Bradbury nailed it with this one.

Rory Funke was an engineer/announcer at KRAB in the mid-to-late-1960's. Found first in the December 1963 guide. He recorded readings, interviews, music programs, and the occasional montage. He also played rock and roll when KRAB didn't, and got in trouble for it. And later, in Aug 1967, he substituted for Tom Robbins on Notes From The Underground.

Later yet it appears Rory got into library management: In 1977, as Head of the Microforms and Recordings Department at the University of Oregon Library, he took over a project of microfilming Oregon newspapers. Rory retired from the U of O in 1997, and passed away in 2007.

Chaucer for an August Evening - A reading by Robert Payne, followed by music of Lester Trimble - KRAB Aug 27, 1964

8:00 The Miller's Tale, from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, read in Middle English by Robert Payne of the University of Washington.

8:40 Lester Trimble: Four Fragments from the Canterbury Tales, performed by Adele Addison, soprano; Robert Conant, harpsichord, Charles Russo, clarinet, and Martin Orenstein, flute.

This is a typical example of KRAB program scheduling that often presented material that complemented each other. It is also an example of a program in a language that might be intelligible to only a few in the listening audience.

To our distress, though the tape label gives the program length as 40 minutes, our digitized copy is only 34 minutes. The Introduction, and a short bit of The Tale itself, it seems, has been misplaced, as the program begins at line 98 with

Former English Professor Robert Oscar Payne taught at the UW from 1962 to 1972. Payne was a graduate of the Univ of Oregon and Johns Hopkins. He left the UW to take a position at the City Univ of New York. He was the author of "The Key of Remembrance, a Study of Chaucer's Poetics" (1963). He died Feb 9, 1994.

December 2005: The Silent Towns by Ray Bradbury - read by Rory Funke - KRAB Oct 9, 1964

December 2005: The Silent Towns. A reading by Rory Funke from Ray Bradbury's 'Martian Chronicles' (KRAB Archives).

When this was scheduled in the Oct 1964 program guide it was already identified as a "KRAB Archives" tape, so it must have been produced and first aired sometime before that date. Unfortunately our collection of guides is incomplete, with lots missing from 1963 through 1964.

The Last Letters From Stalingrad Read by Bob and Etsu Garfias - KRAB 1964

The image above is a clipping from the 1964 marathon program guide saved by the person that recorded this program off the air. We do not know the exact date of the broadcast, or the original broadcast date, because the sources of such documentation, guides from 1963 and 1964, are missing. But this clipping tells us it that on this occasion it was broadcast sometime between Nov 16 and 22, 1964.

Seven years later it was broadcast during the Oct 1971 marathon, and described as follows: "LAST LETTERS FROM STALINGRAD - Robert and Etsu Garfias read letters from German soldiers trapped in Stalingrad during the Second World War. The letters were read by the German officers to ascertain troop morale. Because of the nature of the letters, the High Command ordered them impounded. Further information is given at the start of the program. This is, undoubtedly, one of the most moving programs KRAB has ever presented."

The letters were published in the Autumn 1961 issue of The Hudson Review, and the program begins with Robert Garfias reading the introduction, the first part of which is missing from the tape, but follows here:

"Last Letters From Stalingrad, translated by Franz Schneider and Charles Gullans. The letters and fragments of letters that follow were originally published in Germany in 1954 by the C. Bertelsmann Verlag (now Sigbert Mohn Verlag), Guetersloh, under the title Letzte Briefe aus Stalingrad. The following note appeared as a postscript to the German edition:

"A full account of the fate of these letters would make a fantastic tale of overorganization - of a military and party bureaucracy gone mad with censorship, snooping and analytical and documentary zeal. From the day they were flown out of the Stalingrad trap, the letters passed through serried ranks of bureaus. They were to be used to 'ascertain the morale of the troops'; an order was issued from Hitler's headquarters that they were to be impounded. The order went to the Army High Command and from there to the central censorship bureau of the army postal system."

Note: There appears to be some concern today that these letters were forgeries and not authentic, but there is little that I can find in the way of evidence one way or the other. Nor is there anything indicating that the translators had any idea of questions of authenticity.

The Diary of a Madman, by Nikolai Gogol - KRAB Nov 17, 1964; KPFA Jul 13, 1961

"THE DIARY OF A MADMAN." The Gogol work read at the Berkeley Reader's Theatre by Mark S. Klyn.

A radio adaptation of Diary of a Madman, produced by Erik Bauersfeld as part of the Black Mass series is also in the KRAB Archive. It can be found on the Radio Theatre page.

Resistentialism - KRAB Dec 6, 1965; KPFA 1961

RESISTENTIALISM describes a phenomenon of unprecedented importance in 20th Century man's search for meaning and identity in an age of anxiety and.....

Paul Jennings' report from Paris on the important new philosophical movement, and its awesome consequences for Art As We Know It. Rendered by Jack Nessel. Originally published in the Spectator, April 1948, and produced at KPFA, March 3, 1961.

KRAB regularly acquired programs from KPFA and eventually from Pacifica through the Pacifica Tape Exchange. This one was a favorite that was always pulled out and replayed during marathons in the early years.

Many other Pacifica programs broadcast by KRAB in Seattle can be found on John Whiting's web site, which, incidentally, was a source of inspiration for this site. There you will find highlights from the fantasy and horror drama series produced by Erik Bauersfeld, Black Mass; the surreal comic dramas attributed to Compendium Cliché Productions; Lenny Bruce; Henry Jacobs; Dale Minor's documentation of 1963 Birmingham, Freedom Now!; and much more if you just wander the site.

The Diary of Anais Nin - KPFK Jun 13, 1966; KPFA Jun 4, 1966; KRAB Mar 3, 1967

The KPFK folio of Jun 13, 1966 described it like this: This writer who has been known to literati the world over for 40 years, first came to prominent attention with the publication last year of "Henry Miller's Letters to Anais Nin." Now Harcourt-Brace in cooperation with Alan Swallow has published the first in a series of volumes derived from the several thousand pages of her Diary. On this hour she gives dramatic readings from the first volume to be published in May, talks freely about Miller, Durrell, Artaud, and other literati she knew intimately and gives her unique views on the art of writing. Francis Roberts is producer-moderator of the hour.

The KPFA folio added this for their Oct 4, 1966 rebroadcast: KPFK produced this program featuring Miss Nin and Shakespearian actor Rupert Pole.

And, the listing in the KRAB guide of Mar 3, 1967 said merely: DAYS WITH HENRY MILLER: A little rich for our blood, but Anais Nin fans will appreciate the dramatic readings from her diary (KPFK)

Recording courtesy of the Internet Archive and the Pacifica Radio Archives, who wish you to know that "The preservation of these tapes was funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and by listeners of Pacifica Radio in 2010. Preservation services provided by George Blood Audio and Video."

Rory (Baron von) Funke reads about the Hells Angels on the Milky Way Mind Warp - KRAB Aug 1967

NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND: We finally get around to registering the fact that Rory Funke is replacing T. Robbins for the month of August. Hi Rory! [guide 120, Aug 27, 1967]

Dazzling Tom Robbins returns from Humptulips, Nabraska, to continue his weekly show. [guide 122, Sep 17, 1967]

Tom Robbins has taken a couple of weeks off. The music is typical of the summer of love. Of interest is Rory's choice in reading: The Jul and Aug editions of the Evergreen Review have excerpted from a soon to be released autobiography of San Francisco Hells Angel Freewheelin' Frank Reynolds co-written by Michael McClure. In 1965 Hunter Thompson published an article and, later, a book about the culture of the Angels; in 1967 the era of outlaw biker gang films was just starting with Corman's Wild Angels, contributing to the strange enthrallment of bourgeois celebrities with the Angels; and it wasn't until Altamont in Dec 1969 that people's perceptions cleared.

We only have audio of the last half of Rory's reading, but we have posted (right) a copy of the Evergreen article so the first part can be read, though not recommended for those with queasy stomachs. The missing audio spans the title page (64) to the end of the second paragraph on page 66. Rory's reading starts off with "Meanwhile the second day grew into the hot sun".

Also heard on this clip is Rory reading a short article from the Aug 16, 1967 Helix, attached to the Evergreen PDF above. Earlier in the year the Helix had run a couple of stories about the effect of smoking banana peel.

Robert Sund reading from Ring Lardner's "Round Up" - KRAB Jan 1968

Robert Sund was a poet living in La Conner before it became a tourist destination. He played the autoharp, drank beer, and was the KRAB poet laureate for years. One marathon I requested he recite Yeats’ Pilgrim. He demurred and offered up Roethke’s Saginaw Song instead. Wish I had a recording of that. He died in 2001.

At quitting time
a combine clatters unseen behind a hill,
then emerges over the crest,
flowering orange against the sky.
The driver shuts off his engine.
Sweat and dust burn
in his swollen, red-rimmed eyes.
When he climbs off the seat and jumps down,
the field sways beneath him.
He is buried by silence,
lost in it.
Coming down the hill
to where he parked his car in the morning,
he is slowly becoming someone else,
entering another country.
Where he walks,
puffs of dust behind him
turn golden
in the slanted sunlight.

The White Horses of Vienna by Kay Boyle, read by Lisa Kolb Liebert - WBAI Nov 15, 1963; KRAB Nov 12, 1968

MORNING READING 'The White Horses of Vienna' by Kay Boyle. A story, read by Lisa Kolb Liebert, of a doctor and his wife, living high in the mountains of Austria, their life, and the young student doctor who comes to stay with them. [KRAB program guide Apr 6, 1979]

"There's a swastika fire burning on the mountain behind you", said the heimwehr leader.

"They were blooming now on all the black invisible crests - marvelously living flowers of fire springing out of the airid darkness."

In researching this program we found a record in the Pacifica Radio Archives that indicates it was recorded Nov 15, 1963 at WBAI, and broadcast there Jan 1, 1964. Although no WBAI folio for Jan 1964 could be found, it was listed in KPFA's folio of Jan 25, 1964.

Readings by Lorenzo Milam

Lorenzo Milam frequently read from books, newspapers, and magazines. Sometimes books were read in serial fashion, and were part of his Saturday morning program. These can be found on Lorenzo Milam's Page

1066 And All That - A Memorable History of England, comprising all the parts you can remember, including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates - KRAB May 1, 1969

Nov 18, 1964 - James of the Brow tests the waters by presenting a sampling of Walter Carruthers Stellar's and Robert Julian Yates's 1066 And All That tome of that same name. With appropriate music.

1. Use, correctly, the preterite conjugate of time in a letter to your grandmother

May 6, 1965 - James the Furrowed begins a serialized weekly rendering of the aforementioned volume, which persists until May 5, 1965, when History comes to a .

Dec 16, 1967 - Sir James Brow the Repetitive is pulled off the shelf for an abbreviated return engagement.

Feb 8, 15, and 21 of 1974 - To thunderous acclaim Parts I, II, and III of the James Brow Story are served hash-wise upon the besmitten public. Listeners are requested to submit their test papers to Professor Piffleton at KRAB.

Jun 23 and 24, 1980 - Parts I and II are served up a final time. Alas, Part III is lost.

And yet another recording of a portion of the Stellar and Yates history has been found. Here is Gregory "the Frond" Palmer attempting to fill a vacant half hour with twenty minutes of a book he found laying, still sticky with beer, in the doughnut shop studio. We calculate that the date of this broadcast was May 1, 1969, a Thursday when Sunday was normally scheduled, unless you were listening tomorrow morning, in which case this will be heard Friday. The 45 minute Sunday show to which Greg refers appears to be scheduled for Sunday May 4, 1969, although it doesn't say "Sunday" in the program guide. Oh, just listen for yourself.

Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB 1971

Readings from the anarchist tradition by Jon Gallant, beginning with "Anarchism" by George Woodcock (Meridian Books, 1962), to be followed in future programs by Proudhon, Kropotkin, and others, generally considered to be classical anarchist writers leading up to those of more recent vintage, like Colin Ward and Paul Goodman. A bi-weekly, continuing series.

It seems these days anarchists are most known by their fashion choices. But here, in this seventeen part series (less one), Professor Jonathan Gallant, scientist, philosopher, historian, satirist, and comic wit, reads from the literature of anarchism, and shares the foundations and blasphemies of anti-government.

Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB Feb 6, 1971 episode 1 (missing)
Listen now - Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB Feb 20, 1971 (44:00) -
Listen now - Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB Mar 6, 1971 (26:24) - In this program Professor Gallant reads from George Woodcock's History of Anarchism, Chapter 2 about the Diggers.
Listen now - Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB Mar 20, 1971 (27:13) - About Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
Coming soon: Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB Apr 3, 1971 Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB Apr 17, 1971 Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB May 1, 1971 Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB May 15, 1971 Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB May 29, 1971 Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB Jun 12, 1971 Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB Jun 26, 1971 Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB Jul 10, 1971 Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB Jul 24, 1971 Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB Aug 7, 1971 Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB Aug 21, 1971 Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB Sep 4, 1971 Anarchy Is Order: Government Is Civil War - KRAB Sep 18, 1971

NPR Affiliates read the Watergate Transcripts - May 4 and 5, 1974

In July of 1973 the Senate committee investigating Watergate learned of a White House tape recording system. A week later the Senate and Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox issued a subpoena for the tapes. Nixon refused to comply and instead offered compromises and partial compliance. Almost a year later, on April 29, 1974 the White House released 1,300 pages in 26 volumes purported to be transcripts of the tapes. They had been severely redacted supposedly to remove material either pertaining to national security or unrelated to the Watergate investigation. They also had numerous omissions where conversations are identified as "unintelligible".

A very different National Public Radio (yes, NPR) moved quickly to organize a national broadcast made up of people at affiliate stations around the country reading the transcripts. The NPR hosts anchoring the broadcast included Bob Zelnick and Robert Conley. It seems to have been produced by Barney Quinn. Does anyone know any more about the broadcast?

The clipping above was in the Friday May 4, 1974 Seattle Times. In a follow up story published on Wed May 8, KRAB Station Manager Hal Lee is quoted "We kept no logs, but calls seemed to run two to one in favor of the coverage. That might have changed if we hadn't been able to present our most popular Saturday program of bluegrass music at 9 p. m.".

One listener sent in a $2 check with "Let's hear it for Watergate" scrawled across the bottom.

Now, of course, you can go to a number of web sites and hear the actual tapes, minus 18.5 minutes, but in 1974 KRAB's news department, Jeff Michka, thought he was in heaven.

The Afternoon Reading: Peggy Deleers reads more from Grimm - KRAB Aug 2, 1976

Peggy DeLeers reads from Grimm: "The Story of One Who Set Out to Study Fear" and "Ferdinand Faithful and Ferdinand Unfaithful".

To judge by the program guides, it seems Peggy read from the Grimm Fairy Tales from July to Dec 1976.

Selections From Grimm - KRAB Sep 23, 1976

Peggy Deleers reading "The Poor Miller's Boy and the Little Cat", "Mrs Gertrude", and "The Devil and His Three Golden Hairs".

A Birth, by Daphne Marlatt, read by Peggy DeLeers - KRAB Nov 5, 1976

As more children are conceived in the Fall months than during any other season, volunteer Libby Sinclair thought that November would be a good time to begin airing highlights from the Childbirth Education Association's International Conference, which was held in Seattle last June. The programs are scattered throughout this guide, and more will be broadcast in coming months. Some of them are available in printed transcripts, and others on cassette. For more information write the station.

The note above is from the Nov 1976 program guide. Libby Sinclair produced a variety of programs in the mid-1970's with subjects ranging from children's shows ("Sunnyside up"), to labor unions, to the labor of childbirth. In the 1980's she was on the Board of Directors, and was part of a team that kept the station running when the money had dribbled away. Also during the mid-70's, on her program "Jawbreaker" Peggy DeLeers read from Foxfire, Grimm, Kipling, Hans Christian Anderson, Yeats, CS Lewis, and who knows what other mysteries of fairyland. Occasionally she was joined, or replaced, by her daughters and their friends, the Krabettes. Recent information about Peggy (now Peggy Engel) can be found here: Touchstone Gallery, Yachats, OR

Here is "Peggy DeLeers reading Daphne Marlatts description of a labor and delivery" from an anthology by David Meltzer (whose "Home Movies" is also heard on KRAB).

The Morning Reading with Paul Stanbery - The Inn Outside the World by Edmond Hamilton - KRAB Apr 18 and 19, 1977

A regularly scheduled morning (10:00am) reading program was added to the programs in January of 1976 with Jonathan Holden reading H.E. Bates' Uncle Silas Stories. "Stanbery" was scheduled in the guide starting Mar 14, 1977. Though the dates on these two cassettes are at odds with the published schedule for Apr 1977, we will have to accept them. So, on Apr 18 Paul Stanbery read the first part of Edmond Hamilton's "The Inn Outside the World" (Weird Tales Jul 1945). On the 19th he finished "The Inn", followed by "Dodger Fan" by Will Stanton, and started reading "Turjan of Miir", by Jack Vance from "Tales of the Dying Earth".

Paul Stanbery had an eclectic taste in music, literature, and other arts. Between 1976 and 1982 he produced or participated in a diverse range of productions. Hopefully more recordings will be found.

The recording of Apr 18 ends with a station ID, and Stacey introducing KRABjazz, "Stacey's Mood". Apr 19 starts with music from South America wrapping up Stu Witmer's "Early Music", and ends abruptly with the end of the cassette.

Jawbreaker, with Peggy Deleers reading The Chronicles of Narnia - KRAB Jun 16, 1977

Here's Peggy DeLeers reading from The Horse and His Boy, Book 5 of the Chronicles of Narnia, by C S Lewis. This episode is from near the end of chapter 7, "Aravis in Tashbaan" and beginning of chapter 8. The complete Narnia readings were heard on KRAB Apr to Aug 1977.

Frank Krasnowsky and Lee Mayfield reading from "The Three Marias"

The Morning Reading sometime between Mar 1977 and Jan 1982. The exact date of broadcast or recording, is unknown. Krasnowsky and Mayfield are reading from Novas Cartas Portuguesas (published 1972) by Maria Teresa Horta, Maria Isabel Barreno, and Maria Velho da Costa. For the curious, more about it can be found here: THE THREE MARIAS: Whatever Happened to Portugal's Pussy Riot?

The Morning Reading with Frank Krasnowsky, KRAB Dec 19 and 20, 1977

Frank Krasnowsky did a bi-weekly commentary for years, on Fridays alternating with Frederick B Exner. As the Commentary program faded from regularity, Frank began a series of readings from the political and social literature of "the left". Sometimes called "Left Press Review", "The Literate Left", or "Readings from Marxist and anarchist sources".

In a less serious vein, during the June 1976 Marathon, invoking the spirit of Fiorello H La Guardia, Krasnowsky read from the Sunday comics.

The first program guide in which Frank's name appears is Dec 1963, and the last, Feb 1982.

The Evening Reading: John Bennett reads from "Vagabond" - KRAB Jul 5, 1982

John Bennet was scheduled for the evening readings of Jul 5 to 9, 1982. We often find ourselves prefacing these comments with "so far we have found", which is to say we know there was more, and there is always a chance that we will find more, but for now we have what we have, and are thankful for it. We are pretty certain that this is a portion of John Bennett's reading of Jul 5th, because Tiny and Bob West re-used the tape the next day. It is all there on the tape box.

Since the 1970s, Bennett has been prolific and indefatigable. There are links below to a bio, list of his work, and more examples. He lives in Ellensburg.

If you possess any souvenirs (program guides, tapes, or photos) or have a story about your experience with KRAB you are willing to share, please email archive@krabarchive.com

The KRAB Audio Archive Readings - Books, Magazines, Newspapers