Ivan Shaner
(a.k.a. Gene Shay)
His Story
The following is written by Gerry Wilkinson....On May 13, 1998, I visited the Temple archives in Samuel Paley Library at Temple University. I found some old program guides and weekly WRTI newsletters from the mid-fifties. In some of them were cartoons drawn by Ivan Shaner, who I knew was Gene Shay. That was the first time I realized that Gene came out of WRTI. I first met Gene in 1967 at WHAT. Ed Sciaky, who refers to Gene as his mentor, was hired to jock half-hour gospel tapes on WHAT-AM on Sunday night, the same time that Shay was on WHAT-FM. He got the gig because he and Barry Berg always hung around at WHAT-FM when Gene was on the air. I got involved because Ed was responsible for the AM and had to be there if a tape broke, etc. But that prevented him from hanging out with Gene. So, I entered the equation. I baby-sat AM while Ed went over to visit Gene. You know, I don't remember if I got any money out of this. I don't think so. It was just a thrill to hang around a REAL COMMERCIAL STATION. So, that's how I met Gene. Nice guy. Gene is currently heard Sunday afternoons from 4pm to 8 pm on WXPN, 88.5.
An e-mail from Gene Shay....Is Bill Dean still working in news at Channel 3? He was in my class. (1957 grad) I was production director of WRTI and I anchored a news magazine show. Those were the days when John Roberts would take a bunch of us to WFIL radio at 46th and Market once or twice a week to be part of radio dramas like "The Magic Of Books". These were 15 minute shows sponsored by the Phila. Board of Ed and intended for in-classroom listening in the public schools. I acted in many of those dramas with Jane Lazurus (Jane Norman) who later became Pixanne on Channel 10 and is married to Frank Beasley, another broadcasting pioneer. Frank, was a partner in Center City Video and just retired a few years ago. I'll check into the web site. Thanks, Gene Ivan Shaner, better known to folkies as Gene Shay got his start at WRTI in the fifties. During that time, the station published a WEEKLY newsletter called, "On Audition." Most issues during Gene's time contained a cartoon thought up and drawn by Ivan Shaner. Here's one of his better ones.
Gene Shay's Member Profile from AOL....
Member Name: Gene Shay
Location: Wynnewood, PA USA
Sex: Male
Marital Status: Married
Hobbies: Folk Music
Computers: Power Macintosh
Occupation: TV radio producer/writer--Folk DJ
Personal Quote: We'll have the correct time in about 6 minutes....
This is the WRTI Old Gang Web Site!