Friday, August 2, 2019
In the spring of 1981, WUVA was nearly two years into FM operations. It had been a very rocky start and that spring the staff engaged in some very passionate disagreements over the programming direction of the station. Richard Marks, Mike Mares, Bill Gentry and Richard Bradley deftly handled the problem at the spring board meeting that was attended by a large portion of the students as peace was made.
Hal Carlson was President, Tom Butler was the GM and I was the PD. Tom and I decided to stay that summer, but unlike student staffers in the first two summers of operations, we didn't take jobs at McDonalds. Instead, we were all in at working at the station and earning commissions from selling spots and working full time air shifts.. Tom handled morning drive and I worked afternoon drive. We kept the station on the air 7 days week from 6AM to 10PM, sold advertising and by the summer's end stabilized the station both operationally and financially.
But it was hard. For most of the summer we didn't have two nickels between us. I remember one night we called Hal and asked him if it was ok if we used the change from the soft drink machine to go to Burger King. Fortunately, the next day we were able to collect enough receivables to keep gas in the car and sustain our fast food diet.
Tom was such a great guy. Hal, Tom and I all started in news as reporters and moved up through the department and in his Third Year Tom was elected as Business Manager where he did an incredible job. The books were balanced, financial statements had meaning, the logs were clean and so much more. With coaching from Mike Mares and Richard Marks, he learned how to successfully sue deadbeat clients in small claims court. He took particular delight in this and won every time. I think the judge enjoyed having Tom in his courtroom because he had his cases very tight.
Both Richard Marks and Tom's son Michael talked about this smile that would come across Tom's face when he an insight. It also came when was about to say something rather cutting and hilarious.
After graduation, Tom's first job was an AE at XTRA FM in Washington. After a couple of years, he left media and eventually started his own successful tax and business consultancy. He marred Kathy Williams, also a WUVA Newser and raised two wonderful sons.
It is an impossible task to adequately relate the meaning of a friend's life in a space as confined as this is. So it will have to suffice to say that Hal, Tom and I remained close through the decades because of the bond created by the unique and searing experience that is WUVA. You know what I mean.
Andy Stuart
