"1942 PHOTO OF KEN"
(New 29th June 2004)

Our thanks to Sharon Kopina of Illinois for sending me a jpg copy of this old postcard of Ken, taken around 1942, when he was at Radio WMRO in Aurora.
Ken is seen sitting at a WMRO microphone. On the rear is a printed message from Ken, who at the time was calling himself 'Griffiths'. Ken would have been
either 32 or 33 at the time of the picture. His signature is easily recognised from those we have seen in later signed photographs (Link 12). It is interesting that
there is a post office marking but no actual stamp on the card.

Those of you who were at the first Dedication Show in Chicago will remember Brian Wessel's radio recordings when Ken was still in uniform and he was
introduced as Corporal Ken Griffiths. As far as I can make out this was a stage name that Ken decided to use in his early years as an organist. I believe he
started using his own name when You Can't Be True, Dear was published.

 

 

WEB SITE LINKS

Sharon is a postcard seller and has a successful auction section on Ebay.com, where you will find her as JIMTHEKING, a name used in dedication and memory
to her late father, Jim Stein, who used that nickname over many years. Sharon writes:

"In March of 1999, we (dad, me and my mom) started selling postcards as a lark, he always loved a great adventure.  Dad would always sign his  greeting cards
thru the years to my mom as JIM THE KING ... so, keeping in the spirit of another great adventure for him, that became my ID ... he so loved seeing his "nick"
on the big internet!! ... Dad died suddenly in July of 1999 at age 80, lived a wonderful life, went out at the top of his game and left his children with a legacy of
living your life honestly and with character ... Here is one of his sayings which my husband incorporated into his teaching career" ... "All you can ever hope to do
in this world is to leave your little corner of it better than you found it." ...many a student have taken this jewel with them into their adult lives and reported back
to my husband their daily attempts to live up to this saying .. the world was much off having had my dad as part of it!! .... so, give the credit to him in memory of
his leaving his little corner better than he found it!!".

Sharon has very kindly made a link to our Home Page on her Postcard web site and also mentions the October Dedication Show, which you will find at:  http://www.lionden3.com ... Hopefully, anyone finding Sharon's page with Ken's postcard photo will also find our Dedication pages and learn more about
Ken and also help our readership grow.

Sharon's brother, Alan Stein is an historian for a Washington History web site. at  http://www.historylink.org, which you may also find of interest.