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Bill
Bowick
AHS
Class of 1946
Recently an old familiar name
popped out at me on Vintage
Albany GA ... Bill Bowick,
and a link to his having been
named to the Georgia Radio
Museum and Hall of Fame!!!
I remember back during my
reunion planning for our 50th, I
considered contacting Bill to
see if I could record a voice
message from him and see the
faces on my classmates when they
heard that familiar voice we
heard as we dressed for
school!!! But I wimped out
then. Today I did NOT!
I called and I heard the voice!
He sounded about 27!!!
Still the same sonorous voice
and I thought surely I had gone
back to a place that was a time
of magic in my life! Remember
the April Fool's Day when
Bill and Walter Flint changed
radio stations? Bill says he
remembers, "vividly"!!!
I
never knew Bill was an AHS
1941 Indian! I
first spoke with his charming
wife, Catherine "Cassie"
Rakel, Class of
1946 and learned that Bill
played basketball as an Indian.
He says B.D. Lee was
principal at the time. Her
brothers Paul and Clem Rakel are still n Albany.
In 1955, Bill took his bride, Catherine,
and left Albany for a new job in
Columbus GA ... this teenage
heart was surely broken!
Popular 50’s
Radio Host of
“Coffee
With Bill”
is a
2008 Career Achievement Inductee
of
Bill Bowick grew up in Albany
and attended The University of
Georgia. In 1947, three months
before he was to graduate, Henry
Grady School of Journalism Dean
John Drewry told him there was a
job for him at WALB radio in
Albany. Wishing to complete his
college education, Bill turned
down the job. Drewry told him to
take the job and submit a weekly
"on the job" paper each week to
complete his course of study and
graduate.
At WALB, Bill began his long
running
"Coffee with Bill" morning show. In
the 8 years there, he had
occasion to learn all aspects of
radio. Once, Andy Griffith made
an appearance at the co-owned
television station grand opening
and Bill was selected to be
Andy's host. Griffith had a hit
record with "What It Was Was
Football". He borrowed Bowick's
tie for the telecast (which
never happened due to technical
difficulties). Bill never saw
the tie again. In 1955, Bowick
was married and had a family
when he accepted an offer at a
radio station in Columbus, GA.
Click below to
listen to Bill Bowick's "The
Soldier", recorded for July 4,
1956 at WGBA.
The Georgia Radio Hall Of Fame
is a Georgia Non Profit
Corporation
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