Will's World: Will's World 02 10 2010

Roy of Hollywood (Roy Tuchman) has been a host/producer/editor/fixture

at KPFK for over 30 years, mainly on his the midnight to 6 a.m.

program "Something's Happening."

Freedom of speech is essential for anyone attempting to find the truth of any situation.

But how many of us actually work to ensure freedom of speech? Too many of us proclaim that we want this freedom, but many of us are too willing to let others do the work to ensure that this will happen.

Unfortunately there is no one source we can use to find all the facts, all the time, without any bias. We must use as many sources as possible in an attempt to put the pieces of together and come close to knowing the truth. But again, this is only possible if we have freedom of speech.

At the listener-sponsored, non-commercial radio station KPFK, the quest for freedom of speech is paramount. KPFK is a member of Pacifica Radio, which according to the KPFK website: “Pacifica was born in the late 1940s out of the (now nearly forgotten) peace movement surrounding World War Two. Lewis Hill, a conscientious objector and Washington, D.C. newsman, was fired from his mainstream reporting job when he refused to misrepresent the facts.” Hill went on to found Pacifica.

In 1959, KPFK, in Los Angeles, became the second Pacifica station, following KPFA in Berkeley, Calif., which began broadcasting in 1949. There are now five Pacifica stations, of which KPFK is now the most powerful.

Since this is pledge week, from midnight until 5 a.m., I, along with three other volunteers answered phones, collecting donations to keep KPFK alive. And because it was a slow night, not many listeners calling in with donations, I was able to talk more with the volunteers. A woman from Santa Barbara, Joan told me that her family owns the oldest wooden structure in the United States. When I asked about it she told me, “It’s the Fairbanks House in Dedham, Mass.” At which point I nearly fell off my chair. My first newspaper job was at The Transcript in Dedham and I know all about the historical significance of the Fairbanks House, which was built in the 1630s or early 1640s. Yet another example of why we should talk more and listen even more to our brothers and sisters. We never know what amazing things we’ll learn.