Thanks for posting your dad’s wonderful commentary*. I remember its original airing very well. I had just returned to the station after three years in the Army and 16 months with the Metromedia station in Philadelphia, WIP. One of my jobs was writing your dad’s 6:00 and 7:30 newscasts.

I was also a newlywed; my Jersey-girl wife was the daughter of a crusty old Italian-American butcher, Stanley Cozza, who rarely had anything good to say to anyone about anything. He was, however, a

long-running fan of WNEW, his loyalty dating back decades, and because I had gone to work for his favorite radio station, I could never do anything wrong.

Over the years, WNEW’s music policy drifted away from the American standards that had made its reputation, and Stanley drifted with it. Fortunately, he didn’t blame me for the changes, and, a decade later in 1979, when the standards returned to the station, Stanley returned with them. The radio in his grocery store in East Orange went on — tuned to WNEW — when he opened the place in the morning, and it stayed there all day. Ted Brown was a special favorite.

By then, I had left WNEW 1130 — but not the premises — to do the morning news on WNEW-FM, working in the same newsroom, if not on the same frequency. When I left at Christmastime in 1981 for NBC, where I would spend the rest of my career, WNEW 1130 had

just circulated a snazzy poster with Broadway star Ann Reinking striking a pose, and as a farewell gift, a whole bunch of staffers autographed the back of it, saluting the big fan, my father-in-law Stanley Cozza.

It’s been sitting in a box for lo these many years, but here it is. I have transcribed the autographs from the back of the poster.

 

Thanks again, so much, for your loyalty to the station we all loved so much and the staff who made it great.

Best regards,
Andy Fisher

*Editor’s Note: The commentary to which Mr. Fisher refers was posted Feb 6, 2024, and written for broadcast on WNEW-AM February 13, 1970 by Mr. Edward C. Brown.

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INSCRIPTIONS ON WNEW 1130 POSTER FOR STANLEY COZZA

Stanley – Thank you and Merry Christmas – Tom Whalen

Stanley! We like the music here too! (Especially those of us with a little gray hair!) Keep listening – Happy Holidays! Mike Prelee, News Director

To Stanley – The young lady on the other side is Ann Reinking. I’m sending her to you on Arbor Day. Be prepared – William B.

To Stanley You were my “best” call in the past 175 years.  Stay tuned — or come in and work with me!!  Best, Ted Brown

Stanley – Glad you like our station, we appreciate your listening.  Now what can we do about Andy?  Best wishes, Bob Hagen

Stan – My man – I hear that you are cool & dig purple.  Warmest regards Al Jazzbeaux Collins

Stanley – You are obviously a gentleman with cultured taste and refined judgment when you pick a station to listen to… but… have you had a hearing check-up lately? Merry Christmas John Kennelly

From one with ALL gray hair — for Stanley Steamer — Bruce Charles —

To Stanley Cozza… Thanks for listening to our hard-working WNEW news team… Best wishes, Mona Rivera

Dear Stan, In reference to the above by Mona Rivera, the true “hard work” is that of the listener.  You must be a very hard worker.  Best of everything from the Bald One, Charles Scott King

TO STAN – Christmas full time – the year around for you from a part-time milkman – Gordon Hammett