This Week's Letter(s)
Dear Sirs,
In the future (aprx Jan.) I will be moving the the Mississippi coastal area, what I would like to know is do you have any plans of setting up a station in the Biloxi area? If not, is there any way that I can continue to benefit from Pacifica's efforts. Thank you.
Sincerely,
JR <REDACTED><ADDRESS REDACTED>
PS the stations there are very bogus, no jazz, no electronics, top 40 teeny bopper garbage only - HELP!
Dear ?he New KPFT:
You have recovered a former listener and a new listener as patrons--or whatever. Enclosed please find our contribution.
Congratulations on finally becoming a truly liberal radio station! Your break from "hippi-ism" is appreciated by those of us who wanted to hear your news and special events before but didn't want a sermon on a lifestyle--but got one anyway. It is nice now that all sides are being recognised without comment. Examples? Take Sunday mornings religious records--satire, sincere religious, something for the Jesus freaks and the religious and the non-religious. Super! I just hope that you don't lose sight of this balance when you really develop your "new" look. This donation is our vote of confidence that you will remain for the people--the people being everyone--not just one "hippie" segmetn.You asked for listener suggestions. We have a few.
Is the poster really important as a permanent object del art in the program guide or can it be recycled? (As far as I can see that would be the only objection to the following suggestion.) Why not have subscribers send back program guides by the 15th of each succeeding month and sell the paper to a recycling place. The money could therefore be recycled into the station and the paper back into society. Cleaning up the environment could be a project of a concerned radio station.
Why couldn't KPFT produce local radio serials of novels, plays, etc. which have passed into public domain--no longer covered by copyright? Using local talent, volunteer talent of actors, etc., etc.? As an ex-drama person I would volunteer to direct and help produce such programs. Maybe they could be used in exchange for other Pacifica programs. We too should contribute to the network.
And on the subject of the serials. There are some of us who have copped out and work 8-5 and can't stay up for the serial you are now airing. Can't they be aired at a time when the "people" who aren't all night freaks hear them--say in the evenings (prime time) if you will. By the way, there are some of us who don't watch TV at night and prefer the radio--why not give us somethng to listen to other than rock music?
My husband's turn.
I'm looking forward to your new style, but please do let me know when I can tune in for some jazz.
That's all.
<REDACTED>
Editor's Note
The first two letter post, and it's because a theme developed as this week's mailbag was being prepared.
The first letter is from 1979 and demonstrates the writer's remorse at losing access to the programming he/she has come to know and love. The second undated letter, while lengthy in its praise and critique, touches on the same theme from a different angle.
In the period these listeners were engaged with KPFT, they were strictly limited by geography and time.
Move out of the area? Lose KPFT.
Have to get up early for work? Can't listen to anything after bedtime.
It's better today.
For regional listeners the network of repeater stations fills in the gaps north and south at 89.5 in Galveston and 90.3 / 91.9 in Huntsville / Livingston.
In the early 2000s KPFT and the rest of Pacifica the joined the streaming radio game and now we don't have to lose KPFT just because we live too far away. With the archive at https://archive.kpft.org we can listen anytime and catch up on shows we've missed.
Third party helper apps like Tunein bring that power to mobile devices as well and it's not uncommon to receive donations from listeners all over the world during modern fund drives.
Technology has extended the reach of KPFT far beyond the Houston region so you can take it with you wherever you go (and don't have to luck into a fluke broadcast 1300 miles away).
As always, comments, corrections, and additions are welcome. Contact Us
About The Mailbag
The letters posted here were among the boxes recovered from 419 Lovett Blvd, as documented in The Mighty 90 Project post and are reminiscent of the work done at Found Magazine and PostSecret. The vast majority of letters date from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, although some newer materials of more recent vintage have been supplied by programmers.
Historically KPFT would, on occasion, read letters on the air and in some cases the letter writers explicitly ask NOT to be so presented. Attitudes towards consent and personal privacy are very different in 2022 as compared to the time these letters were mailed and no one then writing could have imagined the modern internet, much less this type of public sharing.
Accordingly, whenever a letter has personally identifiable information from a correspondent it will be lightly redacted to protect the privacy of the original author.
