[bksvol-discuss] Baechler Productions Makes Vintage Radio BooksAvailable to the Blind

juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx · Fri, 2 Dec 2005 23:10:59 -0500 (EST)

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Baechler Productions
PO Box 19727
San Diego, CA 92159
http://goldenradio.net/
Email: press@xxxxxxxxxxxx

BAECHLER PRODUCTIONS MAKES VINTAGE RADIO BOOKS AVAILABLE TO THE BLIND

(SAN DIEGO, CA - November 29, 2005) - Baechler Productions, a leader in the
transfer and restoration of high quality Vintage Radio shows available on
DVD and audio CD announced today that in association with Bookshare.org, a
leading provider of digitally accessible books for the disabled, funding
has been donated for the purchase and scanning of nearly two dozen books
related to Vintage Radio.  If you are a member of Bookshare.org, you can
already download several titles which have been processed, with more titles
going online over the next several weeks.  We regrettably are unable to
make these books available to non-members.  All titles can only be
downloaded through the Bookshare.org web site.

"We are happy to provide this service to the blind," Tony Baechler,
Director of Baechler Productions, recently said.  Tony himself is blind and
understands firsthand how difficult it can be to find reference materials
about Vintage Radio.  Although he has been collecting Vintage Radio
programs for many years, it was not until 2003 that a well-known reference
book was made available on several cassettes.  He further states, "There
were a couple books available on tape but they were difficult to use and
required lots of time to find what you were looking for.  I couldn't just
turn to the page I wanted as other sighted collectors could."

Vintage Radio was described as, "theater of the mind," by the CBS Radio
Network.  It is ideally suited as entertainment for the blind since the
pictures are drawn from your imagination.  During the golden era of Vintage
Radio, there were many types of programs including dramas, comedies, and
news.  It was not until the late 1990's that researchers began writing very
comprehensive, detailed reference books.  There had been encyclopedic works
written before then but with many inaccuracies.

It has now become very easy to collect these programs.  For the sighted
public, it is also simple to purchase and read the reference
books.  However, this is impossible for the blind or others who are unable
to read print.  That is why Baechler Productions was honored to donate the
funds to purchase twenty-two books for scanning and uploading to
Bookshare.org.  There is a large range of titles included, from books of a
nostalgic nature to very large encyclopedias.  There are detailed looks at
both well-known radio stars such as Jack Benny and Bing Crosby to thorough
examinations of lesser known and nearly forgotten stars such as Paul
Frees.  In addition, there are several well-respected authors from the
Vintage Radio community represented including Martin Grams, Jr. and Jim
Harmon.  Other featured celebrities include George Burns and Bob
Hope.  There are books which focus only on specific shows as well, such as
"Have Gun, Will Travel" and "Suspense."

Tony further observes, "It used to really bother me.  I would have a great
longing to read some of the new books just coming out.  Everyone on the
email lists would rave about the latest work by a respected author but I
had no way to read it.  If I was lucky, the author might post an excerpt
online but that was it."

"Jack Benny was active through sixty years and four eras of American
entertainment," notes Laura Leff, President of the International Jack Benny
Fan Club located online at http://jackbenny.org.  Because of the
timelessness and value of his humor, we have chosen many biographies about
him, including one by his daughter, Joan and several by his writers.  He
was well-respected by his many friends, including George Burns, Bob Hope,
Lucille Ball and many others.  It is now possible for the blind to get to
know the real person of Jack Benny, not just his radio and television
persona.  Because of his enduring popularity, a petition has been started
to have his picture on the new thirty-nine cent postage stamp expected to
be released in January, 2006.  The blind, thanks to the books now
available, are not limited to only hearing his radio legacy.

In 2002, an effort was made to bring back some of the famous Vintage Radio
programs from the past in printed form.  This was so successful and
well-received that a second volume was published two years later.  However,
even though the medium of radio itself is great entertainment for the
blind, the publisher would not make electronic copies available.  We hope
that publishers will consider giving error-free files to Bookshare.org in
the future.  Finally, the wait is over for those people who happen to be
blind and like this type of entertainment since both volumes will shortly
be available online.

"One great thing about Bookshare.org is the security measures they put in
place.  I have no worries at all about books being stolen and showing up
online.  I just wish other authors and publishers would see the advantage
in providing perfect, electronic copies rather than leaving the blind out
or expecting volunteers to scan them."

Baechler Productions would like to extend a special thanks to Carrie Karnos
who gave many hours of her time to make this project possible.  She
prepared the books, scanned them, and fixed many errors caused by the text
recognition process.  Although Baechler Productions was able to provide the
funding, we did not have the resources to physically scan and proofread the
books.  This project would not have happened without her dedication.

For more information about the books being offered, contact:
Anthony Baechler, press@xxxxxxxxxxxx, http://goldenradio.net/books.html

About Baechler Productions

Baechler Productions was established in 2003 to seek out, transfer,
preserve and restore programs from radio's past, also known as Vintage
Radio.  They are interested in acquiring high quality, low generation
programs on open reel and audio CD.  Even though the mp3 format is now very
popular, Baechler Productions never uses it for archival purposes because
of how much of the original high frequencies are lost in the compression
process.  In 2004, Baechler Productions purchased the goldenaudio.net site
for freely available, noncommercial online audio.  In November 2005,
goldenradio.net was launched, allowing the public to have access to the
increasingly large library of restored, high quality programs processed by
Baechler Productions.  Although the site is currently in its preliminary
form, the catalog will be growing and goldenradio.net expects to be
accepting orders in early 2006.  Some Vintage Radio shows can be
pre-ordered via email, visit http://goldenradio.net/ for more information.

# # #

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