Hi Blog World - Chris Major checking back in here with hopes to keep this blog alive and well in my father's memory. He contributed to this online space daily for years with countless stories, recollections, and amazing memories throughout his life that I hope to keep online and accessible for many years to come.
With the recent news that Google plans to start purging inactive accounts and blogs, I hope this post keeps things active in their eyes so that I can begin downloading copies of all of Stan's posts and archive them for future reading.
Please reach out with any ideas, thoughts, or memories of my Dad to me at followmajor@gmail.com
Stan Major and son Chris at home in Plantation, FL - Early 1990s.
Hi all! Chris Major here, wishing my Dad the happiest of birthdays. He would have turned 81 today. I miss him very much and think about him daily. But today is about celebration, not mourning, so I would like to share one of my favorite stories of his. Cheers Dad, I love you.
"In 1969-70 I had been a correspondent for NBC News in Vietnam. I returned to the states from the war and landed in San Francisco as a massive domestic airline strike had stopped all fights. I decided Vegas was for me...I rented a car, drove to Vegas, and checked into the Hilton there. Elvis was in the main showroom. I called the concierge office and was told that all the shows had been sold out for months. I hung up and dialed the press relations office at the hotel and they gave me an extension for Presley's staff. The person I talked to there was familiar with my name as I was on a lot of radio reports in Nam and he asked me to hold on. I thought maybe Elvis was coming on the line but the same nice guy came back and said I'd have a front row table seat courtesy of Colonel Parker (Elvis's longtime manager).
Indeed, I did have a great seat and was close enough that when Elvis was shaking hands and kissing ladies along the front of the stage, I was able to shake his hand. It was also a great performance...he had slimmed down for Vegas and worked really hard. This set of performances later became his best Vegas television concert and it's still replayed about every year." Thank you for the stories and the memories Stan. We love you and miss you. Please continue to check back here occasionally for more stories, photos, and recollections from the life of Stan Major and his family. I thank you personally for all of your support over the last year.
Rest in Peace Stan Major: September 9th, 1935 - September 25th, 2015.
It comes with great sadness and immense respect that I must announce the heartbreaking news that my father, Stan Major, the greatest man I've ever known, passed away at the age of 80 on September 25th, 2015.
Stan lived, without a doubt in my mind, one of the most incredible, storied, and satisfying lives anyone could ever hope for. The places he traveled, people he met, and memories he made were enough to last ten lifetimes.
Born Stanley Thomas Major on September 9th, 1935 in Paris, Illinois, Stan spent the better part of the last century journeying around the world, experiencing things of which many of us could only dream.
His life, in my opinion, has always been something to be celebrated. To my friends and I, my father's legend would grow with every story and recollection. It was for this reason that I insisted he begin writing everything down a few years ago. What started as a simple collection of documents on his computer quickly turned into the idea to publish a blog.
I believe it is monumental that Stan's voice and thoughts have been experienced across the entire chronological spectrum of media's technological evolution...from early 1950s local radio to being globally broadcast via NBC News during Vietnam, to national broadcast and satellite radio, all the way through writing a successful blog and having all of the aforementioned media archived digitally online. His work started on a Ham radio station in rural Illinois, and ended up being permanently archived for the entire world on YouTube, Soundcloud, and Google - to borrow a line from our favorite show, Mad Men... "He's an astronaut".
It pains me greatly to write these words, knowing how many of you have followed him over the years and admired not just his recent writings but his entire body of work. It has taken me the entire month to find the strength needed to make this announcement, and for that I apologize.
I will continue to update this blog and repost his best stories from time to time. It has long been a dream of mine to collect his stories, edit them, and turn them into a book for him. I was not able to accomplish this during his life, but still hope to out of respect...something I can pass on to my kids some day...if anyone out there knows someone who can help make this a reality some day, please reach out to me.
I thank you all for continuing to keep Stan's memories alive, and invite you all to revisit this blog, dive into the archives, and relive his stories with me. I assure you...there is some amazing stuff written in these pages. Please feel free to leave comments or reach out to me personally at followmajor@gmail.com for any reason.
And one last time, his classic line...
"This is Stan Major, NBC News, Saigon, signing off..."
Thank you.
Here is one of Stan's greatest moments, interviewing President Richard Nixon:
“You’ll be on live television tomorrow morning with John Chancellor
but you’ll have to go out to the Saigon broadcasting building to get
hooked up for it.” This from the NBC News Saigon bureau chief.
“Oh boy.”
Was my reply...partly in shock about the live NBC-TV thing and
partly concerned about that facility with it’s antiquated radio
equipment.
That place did not have a good reputation for being able to do
anything that worked. If you’ve seen “Live From Baghdad” about CNN
having to use a similar facility you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Seems President Nixon was making an official policy announcement
in the evening New York time, and Chancellor would be anchoring and ask
me in from Saigon for comments....audio only.
So I would have to get out there and hope we could make the
connection to New York...then sit quietly and listen to Nixon’s remarks
and then respond to John’s questions off the top of my head.
Heady stuff for a little known radio correspondent but I was not flaked out about the thing.
They picked the sharpest cameraman as he was very well versed in
audio stuff to accompany me in case the circuit had problems...(or the
local Vietnam engineers did).
We arrived an hour before the speech on “Vietnamization” was set to start.
The call was placed with no problem and we sat around waiting for the Prez.
The
address was not long...Nixon sounded like he was turning the whole damn
war over to the Vietnamese...but that was public relations. I think he
also took the opportunity to announce more reductions in US troop
levels to appease the student protesters back home.
Chancellor was cool, as usual, and ask me what I thought. I was
subdued but ok. Then he asked me to guess at the reaction in Vietnam to
the President's comments and I was ok with that.
He closed our portion of the coverage (there were studio guests also) saying:
“Thanks Stan...that was NBC News correspondent Stan Major reporting from Saigon.”
The only video they used (I saw the report later) were a few
slides of me and some troops with this at the bottom of the screen
“Stan Major NBC News reporting from Saigon”.
My parents were thrilled...I was relieved that it went so well and I
returned to the bureau to get my radio reports ready for the two daily
circuits.
So...if it’s in the NBC News archives and you can get access to that...the date is:
November 3, 1969
President Nixon’s Vietnamization announcement.
John Chancellor anchor...with
NBC News correspondent Stan Major live in Saigon.
-----------------------
Bob Hope & Neil Armstrong
Chu Chi 1969
The Bob Hope interview.......(repost)
Bob talked with me for NBC’s Monitor and then invited me to accompany him thru the hospital at Chu Chi. A
lot of this tv footage was seen on his Christmas 1969 program back home.
After leaving WWDB-FM Philly I took a week in New York City to fill in on WMAC for Barry Farber in afternoon drive.
This was not long after the infamous “subway vigilante” incident on a New York subway train.
As could be expected New Yorkers wanted to talk about that so we did....at least for a couple of days.
Then...I was told by management at WMCA that my fill in days had
ended. Seems they disagreed with my then popular position that shooter
Bernhard Goetz had taken acceptable action under the conditions so far
described.
It was interesting to actually get on the air at WMCA. The owner
manager was...the same guy who years earlier had ask me to fly in from
Chicago to meet with him and when I did...he wouldn’t see me! Another
weird management type.
Same thing happened in St. Louis at the big KMOX. There..I did meet
with the big boss man who seemed impressed with me...enough that he
pointed out places nearby where I should check apartments.
A few days later he wouldn’t take my calls.
Such is our radio business.
I’ve been in hiring positions several times and have NEVER acted so
impolite or discourteous as not to talk to a person I’ve showed interest
in. I still can’t believe either incidents.
Luckily for me...life goes on and better things did happen.
This falls under the category of “what the hell’s going on here!”
Headline 1:
NSA surveillance program gets three more months.
and then
Headline 2
Idaho Judge Asks Supreme Court to End NSA's Phone Surveillance.
then the congress seems as confused as those headlines.
Only in D.C. yep!
(repost spying)
some guys from my past deserve mention here.
First is a man I’ve written about...Grayston Lynch...former CIA
dude who helped lead the ill fated (as they say) Bay Of Pigs invasion.
When Gray was on my show in 75-76 in the studios of WDAE in
Tampa...he revealed for my listeners...that the “agency” and/or others
like it had the capability of spying on anyone simple by using the
telephone.
He said...the spies could call your number...not say anything...and
when you hung up...your telephone would be like a microphone and they
could monitor everything that was said in your room(s).
So to combat this...Gray recommended that if you answer the phone
and there’s no one there...hang up the phone and IF you feel some spy
might want to “bug” you, “simply go to the wall and unplug the
cord...wait a few seconds and plug it back in.” That, Lynch contended,
would defeat the attempt to bug your home using your own phone.
Of course with all the spying government does now...they just use
your computer as a conduit for all the info about you there is! You
can’t do much about THAT!
------------------------------
My long time guest and dear friend Bill (Doc) Leavell used to piss
off the CIA cause he had a phone number that if you dialed it...and
listened to the info that responded to your phone number and line...it
would tell you whether your phone line had been tapped by ANYONE.
We gave the number out on the air across America and my listeners
called it...and they had to change the system! The Govt spy guys were
not happy with us!
GOOD FOR US!
my email: (For NSA, CIA, NRO, FBI, IRS, and any other I may have missed!)
