The pleasure of knowing Larry Lee, the founder of KPFT, was the pleasure of knowing someone whose mind was lively, whose ideas were astounding, whose confidence was unbounded, and whose disgust for bad radio was profound.

I would suspect, if Larry were alive today (if only he were alive!) he would be the first in line to despair at the programming of the present KPFT. He would certainly find it strange that the management of the station is apparently indifferent to the thoughtful and alive radio that was his dream. Most of all, he would be astounded that KPFT has become a de facto commercial broadcast operation, even though it is licensed to the "non-commercial" portion of the FM band.

Obviously, there is to be no relief from those who continue to defraud his dream. But there is, as Winnie the Pooh said, "a Way-Out."

Let me give you a bit of history. Larry Lee wanted to put a station on the air that would be journalistically independent. Unfortunately, under the rules of the game back then, some forty years ago, the Federal

Communications Commission would only issue broadcast licenses to bone fide "educational" institutions or, in the case of non-educational institutions, to independent 501(c)3 institutions which were already operating non-commercial stations. By these rules, he knew that he would have to apply for the permit for KPFT under the flagship of Pacifica Foundation.

However, what he did not know was that once the station was on the air, and the programming was going ahead as promised, it was possible to transfer the license from the national board to a local group. This is exactly what happened in Portland, Oregon: in order to meet the criteria of the FCC, the Jack Straw Foundation, licensee of KRAB in Seattle, established KBOO in 1969 under the umbrella of their 501(c)3 organization. When the two stations began to go their own way, the Foundation offered KBOO to the Portland listeners if they would pay the expenses of setting up the station. This was accomplished in 1976.

KPFT has the resources to become licensed to the listeners of Houston, instead of the current Pacifica board.

This might be an opportune time to explore this. It is my understanding that several of the present board of Pacifica are troubled by the vicious battles that are taking place in the five cities of license over their programming policies and plans for the station. It is also common knowledge that, because these upheavals are ongoing and painful for all involved, that some Pacifica board members are planning, in the very near future, to fold their tents and, like desert dwellers, quietly slip away into the night.

During this transition period, it might be appropriate that those in Houston who have hopes for a reconstituted KPFT --- one that would be honest to the dreams of its founder --- to create an organization which could be licensee for the station. They should incorporate as an educational 501(c)3 organization, with a solid board and specific plans for making KPFT into the station it once was. Then they should also raise appropriate monies to buy the KPFT frequency from Pacifica.

In this way, we can make it possible for the PNB to give up their controversial--- and perhaps even illegal --- plans to sell KPFA and WBAI to commercial operators. We don't want them to sell the New York and Berkeley stations. This would be contrary to the goals, passions, and dreams of Pacifica over the years. Instead, it would be a far better idea for the Houston listeners to buy KPFT, and thus return it to the community.

The positive note here is that the citizens of Houston will not only be working to save community-based radio in New York and Berkeley/San Francisco, but will be able to hear, once again, in their own city, the meaningful and artful programming that was the dream of the idealistic and visionary founder of KPFT.

Lorenzo W. Milam is one of the early pioneers of community broadcasting starting the free-form station KRAB in Seattle in 1962. His handbook for community radio, Sex and Broadcasting is available for $12.95 + $3.00 postage at:

Mho & Mho Works
Box 33135
San Diego, CA 92163

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