SWLing Post editor Thomas Witherspoon recently notified us of the passing of “radio zealot” Michael Pool, a/k/a The Professor. I was an avid follower of Pool’s travels in AM radio listening and airchecking that he recorded for WFMU’s Beware of the Blog during the 2000s, and later on his own Radio Kitchen blog until about 2012. The Kitchen has been offline for several years, but is preserved for posterity at the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
Nearly a decade ago I reflected on The Professor’s quest to find a decent way to record airchecks, especially from the interference-prone AM and shortwave bands. As a side note, in the intervening 10 years that wish has been granted, with the proliferation of small portable radios with MP3 recording features, like the Tivdio V–115, which I reviewed last year.
I also identified with his adventures in taming all sorts of electromagnetic and RF interference mucking up radio reception in his apartment. In the hands of a lesser scribe this could be a tedious tale. But as he relayed in his entertaining last Radio Kitchen post, after much troubleshooting, he discovered an overlooked source only when they took their leave.
While I was a fan of The Professor’s writing – and pined away for his blog to return for the last seven years – Thomas actually knew him, calling him his “radio arts mentor” in a touching eulogy.
Thomas also reminds me that The Professor had his own show on WFMU, “The Audio Kitchen,” in which he “[served] up an hour of homemade recordings freshly liberated from thrift stores and junk shops, as well as some amateur audio spirited away from the closets and computers of their creators.” Archives are still available at the station’s website.
First reading The Professor’s “Adventures in Amplitude Modulation” posts some 14 years ago (and four years before Radio Survivor began) I knew I’d found a kindred spirit, the likes of whom I likely would never have encountered offline. Such was the rush of connecting to people with shared niche interests in those earlyish internet days, before social media and always-online smartphones, and before we took such niches for granted. It’s a testament to his spirit that my memories are so strong all these years later, despite never having met him. I’m sad to learn he’s gone, but glad to know that The SWLing post intends to keep some of his legacy alive.
