The great voices of radio past

by Peter Twitchell

Through the years since May 1971 KYUK has had great announcers – people like Levi Lott. He was one of the first announcers, he was from Tuluksak knowing the traditional language of our Yupiaq Tribe.

I enjoyed listening to him over KYUK radio. Joan Neck was another great announcer we enjoyed listening to in the early years of KYUK Radio.

Pat Afcan from the Yukon was another great announcer our Elders enjoyed listening to. Joe Coolidge was the Yupiaq Linguist who could tell you adjectives and verbs and adverbs of our language.

Joe was very knowledgeable in the dialects of our indigenous people of Southwest Alaska. I spoke with Joe frequently until his death a couple years ago. We enjoyed conversing and taking our indigenous language apart and discussing it.

Peter Jacobs was a great joy to listen to. He always had a story to share and would humor us with his comical and great Yupiaq sense of humor and laughter.

I summoned Peter as well as Dick Andrew from across the Slough to help wake us up with their wit and laughter which often ensued during the early morning hours of KYUK radio’s morningside.

Then there was the famous John Paul Jones who loved to laugh and play John Lennon’s “Imagine”.

Maggie Lind, Esther Green, and grandma Lucy Beaver were loved by our listening audience.

George Charles was one of the early local voices on KYUK’s radio station. Joe Lomack of Akiachuk, and Adam Kawagley and Alfred Lake, Sr. of Akiak have golden voices.

KYUK was really rich in this way using local Elders and local resources of people from the villages who spoke the truth from their very hearts and experiences.

Our Leaders like Edward Hoffman, George Hogmanay, and Robert Nick were our great resources in placing local indigenous peoples and including them in every aspect of KYUK radio’s operation. Quyana.