In Appreciation for John Clise
All at KPTZ are saddened at the loss of the inimitable and fun-loving John Clise, who passed away on May 27. We and our listeners are very fortunate that John fed the KPTZ airwaves regularly to share the Community Calendars and his fine persona, for over 10 years. On May 15, the very day before he himself, turned 91, John joined the Monday morning crew during KPTZ’s 12th Birthday Fund Drive in making his final 91.9FM appearance, as shown in this photo with Donn Trethewey at the console and Phil Andrus also in the studio.
“I shall miss him,” says KPTZ’s Taylor Clark, who since 2013 was John’s production partner for the voiceover work Mr. Clise contributed. “John did voice, I did the engineering. It was a lot of reading but John always came prepared: having looked up pronunciations and marked out his cadence. After he left for the day I would do the edit and remove any flubs. There weren’t a lot of mistakes, but the outtakes often made me laugh. ‘Oh Balls!’” As we send love and comfort to Pam Clise and to all their family and friends, may John’s significant contributions to KPTZ, Port Townsend and our planet serve as inspiration to us all. To hear more of John’s story, and his voice, and to experience some of his humor, check out Maryanne McNellis’ interview with him from one year ago, in the Our Town archives: Episode #201: John Clise, Renaissance Man
Community Tides ~ 6/03/23
This week, KPTZ’s Chris Bricker and co-host Siobhan Canty, President & CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, speak with Ellen Menshaw and Lori Bernstein, activists and organizers from Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action (PSARA). The passage of Medicare in 1965 was historic for covering the medical needs of seniors, but it also created conditions highly attractive for the providers of health care, who the government desperately wanted to accommodate. The arrangement resulted in the federal government surrendering the terms of the program and its costs to private health insurance companies, hospitals, and doctors, who would shape Medicare to maximize their profits at the expense of taxpayers – from 1965 until today. If the trajectory continues, Medicare faces an increasing likelihood of becoming insolvent in the next decade, and barring the passage of Universal Healthcare, privatization will be the result. Ellen and Lori provide us with background and more resources for education, a list of informative events coming up, and ways to get involved.
County Connections
(Airdate: June 2, 2023) Jim Burke and co-host County Commissioner Kate Dean speak with Wendy Bart, CEO of Olympic Peninsula YMCA and talk about childcare and the planned childcare and family support center that is to be built on The Port Townsend High School property with the cooperation of the YMCA, Jefferson Healthcare, Jefferson County, Port Townsend, and additional funding from Washington State and the US Government.