My Childhood
Have you ever wondered how people turned out to be what they were? This is my story - which is actually two stories - that shaped me into who I am.
I was raised in Lynwood, California where I attended Washington Elementary, Hosler Junior High School (7th and 8th grades), and Lynwood High School (class of '62). Lynwood is located in southeast Los Angeles County bordering Compton, South Gate, Downey, and Watts. I attended Lynwood High School as did "Weird Al Yankovic," but he was 14 years younger, so I didn't know him. I think Harrison Ford went there too, but he's 2 years older and I had no idea who he was - certainly not a movie star then.
My Conversion Story
Below is a 5-section wide photo of the Lynwood 2nd Ward taken November 8, 1964. I was 20 years old standing in the back row in front of the Bishop's office window.
When I was 9, I was playing one Saturday morning with my neighborhood friend Ronnie Moore in a wagon on the sidewalk. Then a man walked up to us, Mr. Gintner, and asked us if we would like to go to Sunday School with him the next morning. We said yes, and then got permission from our mothers. Mr. Gintner picked us up the next morning and took us to Sunday School at his non-denominal Christian church in neighboring South Gate. This was perhaps the first time I had gone to Church and I enjoyed it. Every time we went we received merits (paper money) and when we had enough merits we could buy something from the chest in the corner. I had my heart set on one item, the cross that glowed in the dark after being exposed of bright light. After a few weeks I finally had enough merits and I bought it.
Then on December 4, 1953, in appreciation of my attendance at his church, Mr. and Mrs. Gintner came to our house and presented me with my own Bible. It had a gold cross on the chain attached to the zipper, and my name was printed on the front page. I still have that Bible today. The people at Mr. Gintner's church were very kind to me.
A short time later, a friend around the corner, Bill Pickett, asked me if I would like to go to primary on Thursday afternoon with him, which met in the back of a theater on Long Beach Boulevard. I agreed and went every Thursday while attending Mr. Gintner's church on Sunday. That was fun, but the only thing I remember was that Bill's mother directed the music from the stage. She wore open-towed sandals, and when she directed the music her big toe went up and down to the rhythm of the music.
A few months later Bill asked me if I would like to go to Sunday School in their new church building by Lynwood High School. I told him that I was going to the other church. But he pressed me, so I agreed to alternate Sundays between Mr. Gintner's church and the "Mormon" church.
After I attended the "Mormon" Church a couple of times, I met a lady sitting in the foyer. I told her my dilemma of attending both churches. She then said something that deeply concerned me. If both churches taught different things, they couldn't both be true. There could only be one true Church. I had never thought about that before. Then one Sunday as I was standing in the "Mormon" church foyer looking back at a wooden tract rack on the wall, I pondered that thought wondering which church was true. I then received a warm feeling that the "Mormon" church was the true church. I didn't even know what the Book of Mormon was and very little about its doctrines, but I had received a warm prompting that it was true.
So I decided to attend only the "Mormon" Church from then on. When Mr. Gintner found out, he was sad and visited with my mom and me. My mom explained to him that since her family was "Mormon," it would be best if I attended the Mormon Church.
About 2 years later I was sitting in Sunday School with my friend Dick Shumway in the back of the chapel. When I began to talk to him as usual, he told me not to talk because the bishop was watching. I had no idea who the bishop was or what he would do if he caught me talking. So I whispered asking Dick who and where the bishop was. He didn't say, only that he was up in front near the pulpit - and he's always watching. I asked if he was hiding behind the wall speaker grills of the sound system or the organ. He wouldn't say, only that he was always watching. Dick made me think the bishop was mysterious and frightening.
A few months later as I was sitting in Sunday School with Dick in the back of the chapel, I noticed that boys our age were passing the bread and the water. So I asked Dick how you get to do that. He told me that you have to be a deacon. I wondered what a deacon was, like a scout rank or something. So I asked him how I could become a deacon. He replied that I had to talk to the bishop. That sounded a little scary, but I was quiet in the meetings, so I didn't think the bishop would be mad at me.
After Sunday School, I was directed into the cultural hall to the bishop's office, and I bravely knocked on the door. The bishop invited me into his office. I asked him how I could become a deacon. He quickly looked for my records, but couldn't find any, only those of my mother. He then told me that I first needed to be baptized and confirmed a member of the Church. So we then arranged for the stake missionaries to come to my house to teach me the 13 discussions to prepare me for baptism and confirmation. It turned out that the bishop was Dick Shumway's dad! I thought that was funny. Dick was playing me. He certainly had a sense of humor at my expense.
So I finished the 13 discussions, and on January 4, 1958, at the age of 13, I was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A few days later I was ordained a deacon of the church.
Electronics
One day in third grade during recess, Billy Baugh showed me how he could light up a flashlight bulb with a "D" cell (battery) and a short wire. I was amazed! When I got home that night I asked my dad to go to Thrifty’s and buy me a flashlight bulb so I could do the same. And he did. That’s where it started.
When I was in fourth grade, Mr. Orwall brought a Webcor tape recorder into his bungalow classroom to give each student the opportunity to speak into the microphone and to hear it played back. Again, I was amazed! It was another epiphany for me!
I earned $13 per month from my Herald American paper route, and over the next few months I saved up $93 to buy a tape recorder. My mom realized that I was serious since I rarely saved anything. So on December 22, 1955, she drove me to White Front discount store, and she added the rest of the money to buy a “Voice of Music” tape recorder for the wholesale price of $134.75 ($175.50 retail). It was three days before Christmas, and I learned how to record my favorite songs off of the radio. I soon had my dad building me some small wooden boxes to house extra speakers that I mounted under the eaves of our house. Connecting them with long wires leading back through my bedroom window to my tape recorder, I could play my music in several places outside.
Electronics and pop music soon defined me. I made friends with Dennis Haarsager and Bruce Mueller who were also interested in electronics. When I was attending Hosler Jr. High with Bruce and Dennis, my next-door neighbor, Clyde Clayton, a ham operator, taught me how to build a small high-voltage power supply where I could charge up capacitors and short them out making sparks that sounded like exploding firecrackers — definitely fun for boys!
Later another life-shaping factor came to me that could only have been orchestrated by God. In July 1948, when I was 3 years old, my parents bought their new home in Lynwood. They couldn’t have known then how that would influence me later on. I attended Lynwood High School where I had the rare opportunity to be a student in Mr. Kuklish’s Electronics Shop classes. To our knowledge, no other high school in the Los Angeles area offered electronics classes. In those four years, I learned nearly enough to have received an electronics technical degree at a junior college. I credit much of my success in life to Mr. Kuklish. It defined me once again.
However, unlike Bruce and Dennis who went on to become licensed ham operators, my attention was given to radio stations. I loved listening to KPOP, KRLA, KFWB, KDAY, and KHJ. When I was a junior, I finally came to realize that I wanted to be a disc jockey (DJ). As a self-perceived nerd in high school, I thought being a DJ was cool and it might help me gain social acceptance. My parents encouraged me to become an electrical engineer, which was certainly on my mind, but my greater longing was to become a DJ.
After graduation, I attended BYU for a year, but I just couldn't get my heart around basic college classes. So I came home and worked some odd jobs still thinking about becoming a DJ. But in the large Los Angeles market there was little opportunity to begin as a DJ. That was done in a small isolated town for minimum wage. So I began my bootleg illegal station in my bedroom and went on the air - until the F.C.C. showed up at my front door and told me to quit. They threatened to impose a huge fine and take my equipment if I went on the air again. So I was a good boy from then on and staying silent. I was fun while it lasted - 3 weeks? Read more about my bootleg radio station here.
Becoming a Disc Jockey
One day out of curiosity, I visited a small FM station in a business apartment building near the beach in Long Beach. It was KLFM that played what I called "little old lady music." I told the manager of my desire to someday become a DJ. He said he would hire me at minimum wage to work Sunday afternoons. Wow! I felt like a rock star! I even wore dark glasses (shades) to look cool. I did maybe 3 shifts, and I was awful! The nail in my coffin was the time I had to read a script advertising a smorgasbord, but I didn't know how to pronounce "smorgabord." What an embarrassment that was! My mom was listening and laughed! The manager then realized I didn't have enough experience to work there.
In March 1966 I began serving my LDS Mission in Montana, Blackfoot, Idaho, and Bismarck, North Dakota. In March 1968 when I was released, I began working as a DJ at KBBC-1600 in Centerville, Utah playing "little old lady music," and KMUR-1230 in Murray on weekends. I did better, but at minimum wage. That summer, I studied and tested to get my FCC First Class License. In November 1968 after my Army National Guard training in Ft. Knox, I moved to Rexburg, Idaho to attend Ricks College, and worked at KIGO-1400 in St. Anthony where I also served as their FCC 1st Class Licensed engineer. I was the cool afternoon DJ playing pop music for the high school kids, but I was still not very good!
In July 1969 I moved to Provo and began working at KOVO-960 (conservative pop music). But like at KLFM, I was not good at reading script including the news. A month later I was terminated, but that was a blessing in disguise. I then got a job as an electonics technician at Signetics in Orem, which made integrated circuits, many for the government. That is where I met Linda. 6 months later in spring 1969 President Nixon cut the defense spending, which resulted in my lay-off. So I returned to Provo radio at KOVO-960 again (not reading news). I also worked at KIXX-1400 (little old lady music), and KEYY-1450 (adult and jazz music).
And then in 1970 I made the "big time" working overnghts in Salt Lake City at KNAK-1280 (Top 40). In June 1971 after Linda and I were married, I did weekends at KCPX-1320 (Top 40) in Salt Lake City while working full-time at KEYY-1450 in Provo (adult Top 40), which totaled 7 days a week on the air! Those were my beginnings as a DJ.
