I got the following in an e-mail from my old friend, Tiger Tom Murphy. There's some KISN
history associated with this one, and "behind the scenes" comraderie with longtime KISN Newsman, Bill Howlett.

Here's the e-mail I got from Tom:

I came across this while I was looking for something else from the KISN days. I thought you might enjoy this bit of "Tiger" Tom and really more importantly, Bill Howlett history.

As Christmas approached in 1964, I got a call from the staff of the Evergreen Bark, the newspaper of Evergreen High School in Vancouver, asking me if I would write something about Christmas, a "Guest Editorial" for their newspaper. I agreed and then promptly forgot all about doing it until "Secretary Mary" came into the control room and told me the kids from Evergreen High School needed to pick up my "Christmas Message" TOMORROW !!

Naturally panic ensued, but for only a moment or two, when I thought Bill Howlett might bail me out. Actually, I KNEW Bill would bail me out since he was that kind of person, a good friend and I knew what a wonderful writer Bill was from the features he had written for the show over the 4 1/2 years we'd worked together.

I called him at the transmitter and explained my dilemma and could he write something for me that evening and then to really impose on him, could he bring it downtown* to the studio so I could leave it to be picked up. He said he would.

The following is what he wrote between newscasts. The kids got a much better "Christmas Message" from Bill Howlett than they ever would have from me.

I read this on my 1964 Christmas Eve show on KISN and on shows in various cities for years afterwards. I told Bill I was using his Christmas Message and he liked that. In recent years I read it on shows on the Internet and satellite, so Bill's Christmas Message gained a much larger audience than the readers of The Evergreen Bark and KISN listeners back in 1964.

Here is what Bill wrote all those Christmases' ago.....


There's something special about Christmas...even more that the vacation to catch up on your loafing and the goodies under the tree.
Christmas means different things to different people.

To the mailman. it means thousands of packages with insufficient postage, addressed mostly in Egyptian hieroglyphics with a dull pencil and a 65 pound bag to carry on his 12 mile walk through the rain.

To the gift shop proprietor, it's something that should happen 6 or 8 times a year.

To the toy-wholesaler, it's a hassle that started last March and wound up just before Halloween.

To the airlines, it's a mad scramble to get everybody on the 5:15 flight Christmas Eve.

To the traffic policeman, it's millions of motorists trying to get home at 70 miles an hour and two cars ahead of everybody else.

To Dad, it's that wild period of deficit spending between back-to-school expenses and income tax filing time.

To the long distance phone operator, it's her switchboard lighted up brighter than the tree down in the lobby.

To the average shopper, it's trying to find that last minute gift that LOOKS expensive, with the store shelves looking a little sparse and 1100 other s hoppers with the same idea.

To the small fry, it's that long, L-O-N-G four weeks after Thanksgiving, where the weeks have 11 days in them at least...

To the pastor of your church, it's just the beginning and he wishes you'd come back often and hear the whole story.

To the old gentleman in the red suit and whiskers, with the eight reindeer transport, it's a problem in navigation, logistics, bookkeeping and parking spaces.

But to most of us, it's that special season of smiles and surprises----getting together with friends and renewing old acquaintances. It's a time of peace and promise and the wonderful joy of giving.

Merry Christmas to you all.

* At least I did buy Bill breakfast at The Jolly Joan to thank him for writing and delivering his Christmas Message.

Tiger Tom

-- this deserves a seasonal:

"Ahhhh-WOOOOOO!"
(Tiger Tom's radio trademark yell)

I worked with Bill Howlett when he was at all-news KYXI. Bill was a solid unflappable news man.

I ran into Murphy while working at KJR for the reunion of on air talent back in 1988. Murphy was good buds with my late pal, Jerry Kaye. It was something to behold to sit with Murphy, Jerry, Lan Roberts and Pat O'Day as they talked about their combined histories. They had so much talent and I soaked it up like a sponge.

All of you have a Merry Little Christmas...

Bill was a wonderful person. Loved him.

Thanks Tiger Tom for the wonderful memories you shared with us at KISN. Bill must have been a talented bright guy. It was a great Christmas letter he wrote.

Is there an online bio available for "Tiger" Tom Murphy? I had read that he was at KISN in the early 1960s, then he left radio to go into the service, and he came back to KISN for a while after that. When did Murphy leave KISN for good, and to what radio station(s) did he go to?

Right here

http://www.440.com/440sat.html

Thanks!

The info 440.com is not complete.

Tom joined KISN about 3 weeks after their launch in 1959. In 1962, Tom Michaels as "Tom Murphy's Buddy" subbed for Murphy for 6 months while he did his 6 months active duty. Murphy was a fixture at KISN through January 1965. After vacationing in L.A., Tom joined KNEW (pre-KJRB) in Spokane, and was quickly snared for KJR by Pat O'Day. In late '70, Tom joined KRLA - Los Angeles for mornings. I got him back to Seattle for PM Drive at KOL in '71. His next stop was mornings at WCFL - Chicago. In '75, Tom joined me at WSAI - Cincinnati (where I was PD) for PM Drive. Nick Anthony (ex-KYNO, ex-WSAI, ex-KJR) hired Tom away for mornings at WIXY - Cleveland.
By '76, I got a call at WSAI from Stan Warwick,
a VP with Buckley Broadcasting, who had owned KOL...looking for Murphy. I passed his number on to Stan in Cleveland, and the rest is history.
Tom made it back to L.A., and has never left except for visits to the northwest.

I still have a tape of his when he was on KB101 for a weekend,it would have been Aug 30, 1980 .I think you were on the air with him.

http://www.rma1.com

One of my favorite sites. Its been awhile since thats been updated. I was hoping to share my tape with that.