Background: Originally published April 26, 2006. Delilah Rene for years has hosted a nationwide advice talk show based in Seattle, known simply as "Delilah." She grew up in Reedsport, getting her start in radio at Reedsport station KDUN-AM 1030.
For many people, the "golden years" of radio evokes memories of The Lone Ranger or The Shadow.
For me, the golden years of radio is when AM radio stations actually played music, and announcers broadcast live from local studios. That was when Roseburg's KRSB-FM affectionately promoted itself as "The FM," because it was the ONLY FM radio signal originating in Douglas County.
Eugene's KPNW-AM was the dominant station that most people listened to, not only in Lane County but Douglas County as well. The coveted 6:00-10:00 morning shift was home to Bill Barrett (now at KUGN-FM) and Mike Guldager (now retired), who announced the news.
Lee Gordon (now in Portland) was the 10:00-1:00p.m. DJ. Ric Hinrichs (former KMTR-TV weekend news anchor) played music from 1:00-4:00p.m. Bob Bosche (later moved to KUGN) had the drive home shift from 4:00-7:00p.m., while Ray Carnay (after retiring, he was later convicted of molesting boys on his boat at Winchester Bay) announced the evening news.
DJ Woody Jackson worked 7:00-12 midnight, and Clark Moore (now at KMGE Magic 94) worked graveyard, midnight-6:00a.m. Co-workers nicknamed him "Clark after dark."
Then there was Delilah. As the "new kid" at the station, she originally worked weekend afternoons, and occasionally filled in during the week when one of the regular staff was on vacation.
On Saturdays, I would help my mother deliver News-Review newspapers on her motor route (before the News-Review had a Sunday morning edition, it was distributed Saturday afternoons). Therefore, I was a captive audience when Delilah played soft contemporary music during her Saturday afternoon shift.
I don't remember much about Delilah. Except, after listening to her, I learned she would go home to visit her family in Reedsport. And, she would frequently apologize and blame any on-air mistakes that she made due to an illness. On more than one occasion, Delilah would say on-air that she was "green in the gills." My mother translated for me, and told me Delilah was probably getting over a sore throat.
One night when I was listening to Woody Jackson announce a contest, I called in to claim some free circus tickets. Those circus tickets must have meant a lot to me, because in order to call in, I walked away from watching Buck Rogers on a Thursday night to call the station. In those days, multi-tasking for me was watching a television program and listening to the radio at the same time.
Either I was fast on the telephone rotary dial, or else nobody else was listening, but in any event I won the free tickets!
Our family drove up to Eugene on Saturday, the day of the circus. KPNW's business office was closed, so I had to go around to the back of the building and pound on the studio door. Delilah opened it up. Not only did she give me my free circus tickets, but she also let me take some pictures of her, posing in front of the microphone. That was the last contact that I had with Delilah, until....www.delilah.com.
In 2006, driving from Medford to Oakland every weekend over the mountain passes, there's one radio program that I continually run across while scanning the radio dial: Delilah.
It had been 25 years since I last heard Delilah Rene's voice on KPNW, so I didn't think I would recognize it even if I heard it. Curiosity got the best of me, so I finally e-mailed Delilah's syndicated radio program that's now heard across the nation. I simply asked, "Is this the same Delilah who has family in Reedsport and worked at KPNW radio in Eugene?"
In less than a day, I received my answer. "Yep, it's me." I must admit that I don't listen for long to the Delilah program. She's always asking listeners personal questions that I don't want to answer, such as: "How are you feeling tonight? Are you and your loved one far from each other? Well, just sit back and relax. We'll help you get through this....Let me play a song for you that will let that special someone know that you're thinking of them."
I'm usually changing to a different radio station by that time, unless a song that I like begins to play.
But don't think that I'm knocking the Delilah program. The soft contemporary rock to classic oldies format of music appeals to many people.
And I'm happy to discover that another Douglas County hometown person has made it big. Granted, Delilah may not be as famous as Rush Limbaugh. But while Rush corners the market on conservative talk show hosts, Delilah definitely fills a big niche for late-night listeners who are feeling lonely.
Here in Oregon, the Delilah program is only heard on four stations. They include KDUN-AM 1030 in Reedsport, and KCMX-FM 101.9 in Medford. The other two Oregon stations are in Astoria and Bend.
I was surprised that Delilah's early-day employer, KPNW, didn't have the decency to air their former employee's program.
But I forgot. KPNW, like every other AM radio station, is now into "talk radio." Music programs, such as Delilah, now have a new home on (mostly) FM stations.
[2014 update: According to Delilah's website, her program is now aired on five Oregon radio stations in Portland, Albany, Bend, Burns, and Medford. But it no longer airs on stations in Reedsport and Astoria.]
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