Posted by Allan Sniffen on March 22, 2000 at 08:53:47:
In Reply to: Bill Epperhart 1948-2000 posted by Ted David on March 22, 2000 at 07:00:01:
This is very sad news indeed.
Bill Eppherhart was the first former Musicradio WABC employee to contact me when I started the web site. His knowledge and enthusiasm were amazing. We corresponded frequently through e mail and he contributed pictures, memories and his expertise to both the WABC Web Site and the New York Radio Message Board. His love and enthusiasm for the station was as great as anyone's. He was a fan and a pro. The best possible combination.
Bill could write... and write well. If you read through any of his many contributions to this site, you will see how well he expressed himself and how he could capture the pictures and emotions of radio and the people in it. Bill was an engineer by trade but his talents went far beyond. He took pride in that ability and rightly so.
Bill also who wrote the Ron Lundy Retirement Tribute for this web site. It was so good that Vince Santarelli reprinted it in "Apple Bites" and Ron himself commented how much it meant to him. Bill seemed to always be able to see the significance of radio events as they were happening. Looking back is easy. Recognizing the value of things as they happen is much more difficult. Bill could do that. He also captured the pictures from Ron Lundy's Last Radio Show in the Ron Lundy Retirement section from the Channel 2 TV report. At the time, I received kudos from people all over the country for those pictures and Bill was the person who made that possible.
On a personal level, Bill and I shared other interests which came out in our many e mail discussions. He was a ham radio operator and we frequently used ham lingo and references in our discussions. Even through his recent illness, he was working on getting a ham station on the air and his technical talents were once again obvious. Afterall, Bill was an excellent broadcast engineer.
Thanks to Ted David, I spoke with Bill on the phone just two weeks ago. With all the e mails we have had over the last few years, we had never actually had a phone conversation before. We both joked about that. Bill's sense of humor was very much intact and we didn't talk about his illness. We talked about Musicradio WABC, the people who were there and the items he contributed to the site. As always, he had ideas for more things he could contribute. He also had high praise for this Board and the conversations that take place on it.
I will miss Bill. This Board will miss Bill. The Musicradio WABC Web Site will miss Bill. He contributed much to a passion we all have. The greatest tribute we can offer is to remember him.
This web site will.