WRST-FM will air special segments and programs to mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy.
At 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22, WRST’s Week In Review will air some historic audio originally aired by the network now known as Wisconsin Public Radio. It’s the actual material the state network broadcast that day, largely made up of NBC radio and TV feeds, but with a local interruption by news director Roy Vogelman at WHA in Madison with the bulletin that Kennedy had died. This audio originally aired in this area over WHKW-FM in Chilton (now WPNE-FM in Green Bay). Wisconsin Public Radio gave their permission for WRST to excerpt this recording for broadcast.
On Friday, Nov. 29, WRST will present two special programs. At 5 p.m. is We Knew JFK-Unheard Stories from the Kennedy Archives. The program is hosted by veteran journalist Robert MacNeil and includes audio interviews made shortly after the president’s death by people who knew him. While these interviews have been quoted over the years, much of the actual audio has not been heard publicly. It will be followed at 6 p.m. by a special from Minnesota Public Radio called Jean Shepherd Remembers JFK. It features humorist Jean Shepherd, familiar to many for his book The Christmas Story, which was made into the classic holiday film he narrated. Shepherd was a radio host at WOR-AM in New York in 1963 and did an entire program as a personal reflection and eulogy following Kennedy’s funeral. Both specials were made available through WRST’s membership in the Public Radio Exchange.
These programs can be heard over WRST in the Oshkosh area at 90.3 FM and worldwide at www.wrst.org.