By Frank “Smokin” Truatt
Every Sunday morning, I enjoy cooking up some skirt steak and eggs, grabbing that hot cup of fresh coffee and watching CBS Sunday Morning. I have been doing that for years and have fond memories of the former host, Charles Osgood, who passed away last week at the age of 91. Their tribute this past Sunday was wonderful as they dedicated the entire program to him. Like many of the television greats, Charles began his broadcasting career in college radio. It was there that he discovered his love for the medium and how radio reached his listeners. From that humble start, he became the announcer for the Army service’s band. He would work his way into the job as a news reporter for CBS news radio, eventually being asked to fill in on their television newscast. In 1994 he took over from Charles Kuralt as the host of “CBS Sunday Morning.”
One of his most enduring legacies was his daily radio commentary “The Osgood File,” which he hosted for almost 46 years. That was a program I tried to bring to WTBQ, but was unable to because of the competing network (ABC) we are affiliated with. These broadcasts were three-minute commentaries on topics of interest ranging from national headlines to stories of local interest. Charles had the credibility that fellow newscasters back in the day had. As you know, I love to see musical concerts and over the years have seen hundreds of them. Of the few performances that were not musical was when Charles Osgood took the stage in Morristown, New Jersey at the Mayo Performing Arts Center. He kept the audience mesmerized by the many stories of his own life and told us all about that “CBS Sunday Morning Show” that he was hosting at the time. He mentioned that the “moment of nature” segment at the end was used as a filler to correctly time-out the program, which explains why it varies in length each week.
And as far as his signature sign off, “I’ll see you on the radio,” he answered a criticism that you can’t see anyone on the radio in this poetic way…”You say that on the radio there are no pictures there. You say it’s only for the ear, but I say contraire. There are fascinating pictures on the radio you see that are far more picturesque than any pictures on TV. No television set that’s made, no screen that you can find, can compare with that of radio: the theater of the mind. Where the pictures are so vivid, so spectacular and real, that there isn’t any contest, or at least that’s how I feel. With resolution so acute, TV cannot compare. We can whisper in the listener’s ear and take him or her anywhere. And you tell me that I cannot see the audience I touch? Let me tell you now a secret…my experience is such. That although the room I work in may be very plain and small…in a way that’s quite miraculous, it isn’t small at all. I can see you in the morning…I can see you coast to coast, as you sip your glass of orange juice and bite into your toast. I am with you as you brush your teeth and as you shave your face. You may think you’re alone, but I am with you everywhere. And that may be the ultimate and quintessential test, that proves beyond a doubt that radio is best. I’ll see you on the radio…I can, you see, I can.” Well said, Charles.
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