New Book by Mort White is a Great Read

A Face Made for Radio- My 25 Years in Radio is the latest venture of Mort White, a man who has seen so many of his ideas become successful over the past quarter cntury. This 162 page book is a retrospective of Mr.White's career in radio, mixed with an interesting and edicational peice about the history of radio in Rhode Island, the business of radio, and a whimsical look at what the future might be.

Mr.White reminises about radio’s demise, here in Rhode Island, but across the nation as well. He begins the book by saluting the great many names that made radio the glorius stage, the "theatre of the mind", that it was, but doesn’t forget to mention the behind the scenes folks, their good points as well as the bad. in a chapter called, "The Story Behind the Story."

Radio was a huge part of his life as a child, so it seems like fate that has two loves, gardening and radio, come together in the early 1980s. Within the books pages, Mr.White captures the essence of being a talk show host-turns out he was a natural-drom his start at a small station in West Warwick to a nationally syndicated program, The Magic Garden, reaching over hundred affiliates throughout the U.S. Along the way he chronicles what he sees as radio’s passing over the span of his 26 year career, as its creativity withers and its popularity shrinks. Make no mistake, it is Mr.White’s own obseravations, and they are at times witty, scathing, funny and sad.

Mr.White includes a lot of technical apspects of radio. He talks about the "name game", how radio stations pick their call letters, and how important "the numbers game$quot;- the ratings, are. He writes about the advent of barter, infomercials and infotainment in the chapter callled Barter Bing, Barter Boom. He writes extensively about the many and mysterious ways that trade factors into the radio business and I have to admit, I particularly like this part, probably because it resembles the newspaper business.

A Face Made for Radio is not just a retrospective of Mr. White’s career, though. He ends with a whimsical look at the future of radio and what may come next, Radio continues to change with the competition of other media...Who will be the future faces of radio? Deb Basile, Federal Hill Gazette.

You can purchase a copy of Mort’s book, "A Face Made for Radio" for $19.95 includes S&H by sending to
Whitehouse Productions
484 Wellington Ave.
Cranston, RI 02910