Now that blows me away. Jerry lived less than 2 miles from me and we visited regularly when he was a member of the Bergen County Radio Association. - Steve, W2ML Tom Frenaye wrote:

Nice short article on p.64 in the April copy of Wired magazine:

(picture of annotated VP3YG QSL card with a 15 x 6 block of other cards in the background - one minor error in the annotation)

If You Hear Me, Give Me a Sign

Jerry Powell didn't need the Net to send instant messages around the globe. For 72 years. the Kansas native chatted up comrades in more than 160 countries from a tricked-out ham radio in his basement. And Powell had postcards to prove it. His collection of 369 QSLs - highly stylized missives mailed from one operator to another to confirm radio contact - are presented in the new book 'Hello World: A Life in Ham Radio', by Danny Gregory and Paul Sahre (Princeton Architectural Press, $35). The authors picked up all of the cards for about $20 at Manhatten's Sixth Avenue flea market and wanted to know more. Gregory and Sahre became so intrigued by the ham community, they took the rigorous FCC exams and got licenses. "The culture's all about this passion for technology, but it's also about being social and helping people," Gregory says. "It reminds me of the early days of the Well and BBSes." What sets it apart: In the ham world, a strict code of contact bans profanity, obscenity, and business transactions on the airwaves. Oh, and identifying yourself is mandatory, so there's no anonymity. Now that's an altogether different network protocol.

Looks like Danny Gregory is KC2KGT (member) and Paul Sahre is KC2KHN (non-member). The book (currently priced at $17.47) can be purchased through Amazon (not yet released though): http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/156898281X/qid%3D1047155284/sr%3D11-1...

The Amazon description of the book says:

Editorial Reviews - Book Description

To an outsider, the world of ham radio is one of basement transmitters, clunky microphones, Morse code, and crackly, possibly clandestine, worldwide communications, a world both mysterious and geeky. But the real story is a lot more interesting: indeed, there are more than two million operators worldwide, including people like Walter Cronkite and Priscilla Presley. Gandhi had a ham radio, as do Marlon Brando and Juan Carlos, king of Spain. Hello World takes us on a seventy-year odyssey through the world of ham radio. From 1927 until his death in 2001, operator Jerry Powell transmitted radio signals from his bedroom in Hackensack, New Jersey, touring the worlds most remote locations and communicating with people from Greenland to occupied Japan. Once he made contact with a fellow ham operator, he exchanged postcards - known as QSLs cards - with them. For seven decades, Powell collected hundreds of these cards, documenting his fascinating career in amateur radio and providing a dazzling graphic inventory of people and places far flung. This book is both an introduction to the fascinating world of ham and a visual feast for anyone interested in the universal language of graphic design.

About the Author

Paul Sahre is principal of his own design firm. He lives in New York City. Danny Gregory is chief creative officer of Doremus Advertising.

From Buckmaster:

F Gerald Powell, W2OJW 297 Country Club Dr Oradell, NJ 07649

Class: Extra Issue Date: 11-02-1993 Expires: 11-02-2003 Process Date: 02-26-1999 Birth Date: 02-13-1909

ARRL membership expired 1999-05-31

Perhaps something for the ARRL book list also.

-- Tom

===== e-mail: k1ki@arrl.org ARRL New England Division Director http://www.arrl.org/ Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box J, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444