Mr. BLUMENAUER. This is an era where new media and communication devices are seemingly created overnight. Was it only 3 years ago that YouTube bounced on the scene? It seems like it was last week that we first heard about Twitter.
Well, the first and most influential of the ``new media'' still plays a large role in our lives. Radio captures that magic in part because of the radio personalities who captivated us with their distinctive voices and wit, made larger than life by how much was left to our imagination in terms of the production and even what they looked like. William Conrad was the radio voice of Gunsmoke's marshal, Matt Dillon, who was played on TV by actor James Arness, 6 foot 6, tall and rangy with craggy good looks. William Conrad, the radio voice, sounded that way, but he was short and rotund. And while he looked distinctive, few would confuse him with a matinee idol. From Fred Alan, Jack Benny and Edward R. Murrow to Scott Simon, Garrison Keillor [Page: H5716] today, these people play an important role not just in a communication and entertainment medium, but in the lives of Americans.
In much of the commercial radio wasteland today, where content is centralized and digitized, while costs are cut, local personalities, who played such a profound role in virtually every community, are more and more a distant memory.
In my hometown of Portland, Oregon, we are still blessed with a few distinctive local voices. But sadly last month, we lost one who can only be described as an icon. For decades Les Sarnoff was the most distinctive personality in what started as an idiosyncratic, offbeat and obscure FM station. He helped it grow into a major commercial success and a Portland fixture. The characteristics that made him such a well respected professional and beloved local figure helped him rise above and survive the turmoil in the industry, the often destructive changes, to brighten the mornings of tens of thousands of my neighbors every day for the better part of three decades.
Les was a dedicated and disciplined professional, arising shortly after midnight every weekday to spend hours in preparation before his morning shift. He was a step ahead of legitimate trends in music, but with a profound respect for both music and artists that was timeless. He had a rapport and a chemistry with not only his audience, but the outstanding people that were part of his morning team over the years. Despite a demanding schedule and brutal hours, Les always made time to be part of public events and public affairs.
Now, media and people in politics need for, professional and ethical reasons, to maintain a certain distance. That is far more important to a media personality like Les, than for a politician like me. And observe that distance he did, but always with a sense that I was a friend, with a sense of interest and awareness whenever I would visit him in the station or more often do a telephone interview from our Nation's Capitol or an occasional lunch or interaction at a civic event. But it was not Les Sarnoff letting his guard down. It was Les revealing that at core he liked, understood and respected everyone. He was curious, funny and caring. Even in his passing, Les brought our community together as thousands gathered last Sunday to honor his memory in Portland's Pioneer Square, our City's front yard. By reflecting on his life, we reflect on ours.
To his wife Rita, Les' many friends and colleagues, because of his love for and work with you, we have all been touched. We will never be the same without Les, but also, we will never be the same because of Les Sarnoff. END
