Chapter Three


Cutting Teeth at KXOL

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CH03

On the Dial at KXOL 1360

Radio reporting paid Bob a dollar an hour, and he drove a panel truck equipped with a police radio. "We covered the three R's: (w)recks, rapes and robberies," he said. "When we got word of such things on the police radio, we raced to the location and broadcast an on-the-scene report. It was thought to be quite a technological achievement." Bob worked 44 hours a week from that summer until graduation, covering a split shift from 1 to 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. to midnight.

View artifacts from Bob at KXOL
KXOL program schedule
Bob reading a report
Bob in the KXOL studio
Bob talking to police

From Schieffer to Shafer

“Dad didn’t think the name 'Schieffer' sounded All-American enough, so he had Bob go on the air as Bob Shafer. When Dad celebrated his 50th year in broadcasting in 1990, Bob was unable to attend but he sent a beautiful 4-page handwritten letter. He concluded with the reference to the name 'Shafer' and said, 'By the way, Boss, the folks at CBS like the name Schieffer just fine.'”


– John fletcher, speaking on his late father Earle Fletcher, manager of KXOL Radio in the 1950’s and 1960’s