Posted by chicagomedia.org on April 27, 2008 at 17:38:35:
Just two relevant snippets from Feder's column of letters.
Eddie Volkman: Wally Phillips was an extraordinarily talented man, able to entertain and inform without the slightest bit of meanness, agitation and negativity found in so many of today's radio personalities. I fondly remember my school days when he would call my father at our Glenview home, and my brother and I would "accidentally" answer. Live, on the air, Wally wouldn't miss a beat, asking: "Is your father home?" Wally didn't even get flustered when one morning my father answered the call from WGN Radio with "WMAQ is gonna make me rich!" I'll bet a program director was screaming somewhere.
Doug Dahlgren: When I was a sophomore in high school in 1957, I needed some sound effects for a community project I was working on. Because I was a fan and knew Wally used a lot of sound effects, I showed up at the station one afternoon and asked for him. He gave me all I could carry and just told me to be sure to bring them back when I was through with them. He was a huge inspiration on my broadcasting career.