GregKidd

“Radio waves

One evening at a pub I met Jim Shields, the 4VL radio technician. We had many common beliefs and interests, not the least being our shared awareness of the changing times. Jim may have worked for the enemy, but he was a true believer! Describing himself as a Dylanologist, he had collected all the recordings Bob Dylan had made, along with a house full of memorabilia associated with the poet/folk singer.

Jim lived on the northern outskirts of town in a house beside the radio station’s transmission tower. He took me there regularly to share Dylan’s music and information about the phenomenon the performer had become.

Along with radio announcer Ian Skippen, Jim believed a distinctive resonance in my voice made me ideal announcer material. They dismissed my concerns that my limited hand function would prevent me handling the
records. Other people would be available to perform such tasks, they said.

Ian instructed me on the daily use of mouth exercises that were performed in front of a mirror to enhance voice clarity and projection. Both spoke on my behalf to the 4VL manager, who agreed to assess me for a traineeship; all Jim and Ian had to do was get me up the two flights of stairs at either
the front or back of the studio!

They assured me they would find a way, so
I pushed my misgivings aside. I was even prepared to play Slim Dusty records when necessary.

When Jim drove me to the station, the inaccessibility of the stairs confronted us with stultifying force; it would be impossible for the strongest of men, even working in pairs, to either manhandle me in my
wheelchair or transfer me and it separately to our destination. The stairway was steep and narrow with a sharp turn halfway up. I went home deflated, my hopes for a career in radio dashed.”

“One radio broadcaster that did allow wheelchair access was the School of the Air, which was housed in a single-storey structure that Uncle Andrew Aird had built. This building was the local base of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The radio network that despatched light aircraft to medical clinics
and render emergency treatment to ailing and injured people on remote sheep stations was available to children on those properties for the furtherance of their education.”