The Loss Of A Friend

I know the winter weather is the big issue tonight, and we will have another update shortly… but I need to publish this piece I wrote this afternoon here in the office…

I moved to Tuscaloosa in the summer of 1966 with my mom. We moved from Greenville (in the middle of South Alabama), and Tuscaloosa seemed like New York City to me. That fall I started fifth grade at Verner Elementary School in Tuscaloosa (the old Verner, which was across the street from Denny Stadium), and I slowly but surely fit in with the new kids and the new school.

When I was a student at the old Eastwood Junior High School, for some reason I picked up an interest in amateur radio. I really wanted to get my ham radio license, so I could get on the and talk with other people around the world. Thanks to encouragement from my mom, and a few local ham radio operators in Tuscaloosa, I passed the Novice exam and in November 1970 and received the call sign WN4SVH. I went on to upgrade my license every year, and earned the amateur “extra class” license four years later. I loved spending time in my “shack”, communicating with people via both voice and Morse code.

One of the special people who encouraged me to get into the hobby was Gordon King, a local physician who for some reason took interest in a fatherless child who loved radio. Dr. King and I would become very good friends; he would invite me out to his place, and it was pure joy being able to see all of his “high end” equipment. He even let me operate from his place from time to time. We were officers in the Tuscaloosa Amateur Radio Club through most of the 1970s, and he spent countless hours with me. I always cherished the annual “Field Day” at Bowers Park, where we could set up equipment on a June weekend and make contacts with people all over the world.

I am sad to report that my old friend and encourager, Gordon King (W4XI), passed away today in Tuscaloosa. He did slow down in recent years, but continued to love and promote the hobby of amateur radio. I am not really sure I ever told him “thank you” for being a father figure in my life, and for all the encouraging words he shared with me over the years. Thanks, Dr. King, and so long my friend. 73.

Read more about Gordon in this Tuscaloosa News obituary.

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