ONE OF RADIO'S PIONEERS

Radio Record, Volume VIII, Issue 36, 15 March 1935, Page 55

ONE OF RADIO'S PIONEERS

Mr. Alan" McElwain, Auckland Player, Visits (Wellington QNno of thé men: who blazed the broadéasting trail in’ New Zealand is Mr. Alan’ McBlwain, . of Auckland. who dropped into’ the offices of the "Radio Record" the other day. Mr. McElwain started, broadcasting in the days when 1YA’s studio was in’ Scot's Hall in Symonds Street-and. he has seen. Auckland broadcasting expand to the present day ‘of the. -palatial studios in Shortland. Street. My, McElwain -has been spending a holiday in the. Capital, and.doing a little broadcasting from :2YA_into. the bargain (The: fee. takes the ‘sting out of the expenses sheet, you.-know!’) This. Aucklander says-that’ one of the most difficult things-in the world is putting humourover the air. "You stand in an empty studio, talking to a cold piece of steel; and, as you’ go on, the jokes you thought were:top-notchers sound © flatter and flatter.. The only consolation is’ when some -telephone rings come in, telling you that. your number really was ‘enjoyed in at least a few homes," said Mr; McBlwain, "I had a letter from a man in the Far North. Wis mother had been bed-rid-den for nYany years, and-he bought her a wireless set to pass the time for her.. He said that oné of my: "Sketches had made her Jaugh moré heartily than any thing had. done for years. --Another man'in Central Otago. who had (by his own admission) a ‘flax -and- barbedwire’ type of set, said that he. always got a great deal of pleasure out of my broadcasts. So, even if you are ‘going through something of an ordeal putting humour over in’an empty room, it’s worth-while when you know that it’s being appreciated."