April 1 Nostalgia Digest becomes a quarterly publication with issues four times a year, following the seasons of the year. The magazine expands to 64 pages per issue and contains the TWTD program schedule for three months at a time, plus all the regular columns, articles and features.
April 12 Cincinnati Old Time Radio convention presents the Parley Baer Award to Chuck “in recognition of his continuing exemplary efforts in supporting the presentation and enjoyment of radio history.”
April 30 Development of a Nostalgia Digest web site begins.
May 24 TWTD presents a Bob Hope Centennial, marking the comedian’s 100th birthday with a program of his radio broadcasts during World War II. Throughout the show, Ken Alexander provides special lyrics for “Thanks for the Memory.”
June 7 TWTD remote broadcast from the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois, commemorating the Museum’s 50th anniversary. “Studio” for the day is the Observation Deck of a 1910 Pullman Company 10-section lounge car.
July 31 Metro Golden Memories Shop closes after 27 years of providing “show business nostalgia” for the Chicago area.
August 2 TWTD presents a tribute to Bob Hope, who died July 27 at age 100. Program includes coverage of Mr. Hope’s 20-year radio career and a final salute by Ken Alexander, who writes some additional, final lyrics for “Thanks for the Memo
ry.”
October 1 Publication date for Chuck Schaden’s book Speaking of Radio, a collection of interviews transcribed from his recorded conversations with 46 radio personalities.
October 1 Debut of Nostalgia Digest Website, a cyber-edition of the magazine with TWTD listings, special features, and streaming audio of weekly Those Were The Days programs.
October 3 Chicago Tribune “Arts & Entertainment Book Section” contains an article by free-lance writer Steve Darnall, who writes:
What [Chuck] Schaden learned about radio history from [his radio interviews] could fill a book and with the publication of his interview anthology “Speaking of Radio,” it has. [They] paint a fascinating picture of the birth and growth of America’s first real mass medium, before satellite communications and the ascension of shrill opinionated hosts. Those days, as former announcer Harry Von Zell told Schaden in 1974, radio was ‘the most intimate and socially personal medium in the world.’
October 25 TWTD Annual Halloween Show hosted by Ken Alexander while Chuck attends the Friends of Old Time Radio convention in Newark, New Jersey, part of his book-signing tour.
November 8 Chuck’s book-signing tour takes him to Southern California for a meeting of SPERDVAC, the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Radio Drama, Variety And Comedy. The organization awards a citation to him “for many years of unselfish dedication to keeping alive the memory of the Golden Age of Radio and of the people who made it so entertaining and wonderful.”
November 25 TV appearance: Chicago Tonight WTTW Channel 11, Chicago. Host Bob Sirott’s guest is Chuck Schaden, talking about his new book Speaking of Radio.
November 28 Radio appearance: Extension 720 WGN, Chicago. Host Milt Rosenberg and guest Chuck Schaden talk about his new book, Speaking of Radio, and the good old days of radio. Chuck presents excerpts from a number of his interviews with past radio stars and the programs on which they appeared.
