Willian T. "Bill Thomas" Nankival

THOMAS, NANKIVAL, CONZETT, CAIN

Posted By: J. N. (email)
Date: 3/9/2009 at 23:26:45

The Witness
C. 1955-1960
Blind Disc-Jockey
By Witness Staff Writer

Photo: Bill Thomas, Dubuqueland’s blind disc-jocey, reads a commercial over radio station WDBQ. The script comes to him over the ear phones from a tape that was recorded by his wife, Betty the day before. Betty looks up from her work in the next studio to get a signal from Bill for a time and temperature check.

Photo: Bill Thomas selects by touch the correct band on a long play recording. Bill knows from memory all the discs in the studio library and can make the announcement of the next number by playing, to himself, the first few bars of the piece.

It will be a revelation to many radio listeners in and around Dubuque to know that one of Dubuqueland’s favorite disc-jockies is totally blind.

William T. Nankival, better known after 15 years of radio in Dubuque as Bill Thomas, lost his sight two years ago as a result of diabetes but his radio career was never interrupted because of it.

Bill Thomas is a native Dubuquer and a member of the Nativity parish throughout his life. He attended Nativity grade school and while a student at Loras Academy, during WWII, he gained somewhat of a reputation as commander of the famous “Victory Corps”, which, from its name, sounds as if it were a group of storm troops destined to bring the world conflict tot a quick close.

But Bill confides it was only the freshmen academy class, too young to take part in the regular ROTC program.

In 1944, Bill graduated from the academy and began his radio career. He joined the staff of radio station KDTH where his easy, resonant voice became a part of so many homes in the area for 14 years.

In 1952, Bill Thomas married another native Dubuquer and lifetime member of the nativity parish, Betty Conzett.

Betty is very important to the story for she is now an indispensible part of the team that is the “Bill Thomas Show”, six days a week, over radio station WDBQ.

It was during this time that diabetes, with which he had been afflicted for some time, began to affect Bill’s eyesight and, a little over two years ago, he and Betty realized that he was going blind. They began to prepare and develop the system that works so beautifully for them today.

At the beginning, before anyone else knew what was taking place, Bill and Betty would remain at the studio after his show and a wife, who had been determined that she would not work outside her home after her marriage, began to learn the field of electronics and the maze that is the control board of a radio station.

System worked

When, in a short time, Bill could no longer see well enough to read the advertising copy or the record labels, they informed the station management that they had worked out a system by which the radio audience would have no indication that the voice they heard was being prompted, in everything that had to be read, by his wife. And the system worked.

At station WDBQ, which he joined a year ago last week, Bill always uses the same studio, in this way everything can be placed at his fingertips.

While Bill is “on-the’air” he wears earphones at all times. The phone on the left ear is connected to a microphone in the adjoining studio through which Betty can speak without being heard over the open “mike” which Bill is using.

The right ear phone leads to a tape recorder on which Betty has recorded, the night before, all of the commercials to be used throughout the shows.

As one record is being played Bill selects another from the stack in front of him and , on the other turntable, listens to the first few bars.

Since he has listened to every new record that comes into the studio, he knows by the first notes, the title of the selection, the artist and composer, if necessary, of all the records in the studio library. So well does he know the records that he is able to start the record playing, fade it out a bit, announce the selection and finish his announcement just as the vocalist comes in.

If its (sic) time for a commercial a switch at Bill’s right hand starts the tape recorder and Betty’s voice dictates the product of patron in the exact words that the radio audience hears from Bill.

If a news bulletin, ball score, time or temperature have to be given Betty is in the next studio to furnish all the information through the other ear phone.

What Betty says, Bill says. He follows so closely, about two words behind, that id Betty makes a slip, the slip goes out over the air. But the radio audience can verify that this happens more rarily (sic) with the Thomas team than with many announcers working alone.

Complete Confidence

There is no tension, the system works in an air of complete confidence in each other.
Since Bill knows the board in his studio by touch, he is able to put out the entire show once he is “on-the-air” with occasional time and temperature checks from Betty, and Betty is free to perform the other duties required of a D.J.

Betty is not hired by this studio, except to fill in on office work occasionally, but she is always there to fill in the material for Bill that cannot be prerecorded.

The Thomas’ shows run nearly six hours a day from 12;30 to 3 p.m. and from6;30 to 9:30 p.m. and several other hours are spent in preparation for the next day’s work.

This preparation includes production commercials for which some of the advertisers in town demand the personal Thomas touch. Such commercials are prerecorded by Bill using dubbed in music and sound effects to increase listener interest.

The Thomas team requires no special consideration from the other members of the WDBQ staff, far from it, Bill and Betty are frequently called upon for advice and technical help from the other announcers.

Phillip Kelly, manager of WDBQ, expressedthe feelings of all those working with Bill and Betty when he said that it was impossible to find the words to describe what they have accomplished, only a person in the radio business is able even to begin to realize what a smooth operation the team is.

One of the Top

Mr. Kelly added that in his opinion there was no doubt that the team, the only such combination in the nation, not only did a satisfactory job but Bill is one of the two top announcers in the city of Dubuque and that they could go just about as far as they wanted in the field of broadcasting.

Bill admits that he and Betty have been given a tremendous cross to bear but because of the help of many friends and their acceptance of the will of God, the cross has become, as is always true, a blessing—the world of sound.