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March 17, 2013



In This Issue


Haverhill’s Dr. Lahey Took FDR Secret
to the Grave; Likely Influenced VP Pick

WHAV Announces College
Student Internship Opportunities


Program Highlights

Open Mike Show

Tim Coco

Tim Coco is host of the more than 50-year staple of democracy, Open Mike Show. The two-hour  program is also seen on WHAV.TV.


Mondays, 6:30-8:30 p.m.



Community Spotlight

Nate Webster

Someone You Know is on WHAV! Merrimack Valley non-profit organizations are invited to submit news of events, fundraising appeals and other community calendar announcements. Use the form on the News page to submit your information. Only local radio can bring you this level of public service, but only WHAV does. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Haverhill Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

15 past every hour.



Wave Weather

Rob Carolan

The Boston media doesn’t always understand unique Valley weather conditions. Acclaimed WHAV Meteorologists Rob Carolan and Gary Best and the rest of the team provide Merrimack Valley’s most accurate weather forecasts every half hour, 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week.

Every 30 minutes.

Business Matters (NEW)

Business Matters

Thomas White and Prudence Tippins offer an open dialogue on business that is free of hidden agendas or deception and allows real change to emerge.

Thursdays, 7 p.m.



Democracy Now!

Democracy Now

Democracy Now is an award-winning investigative news magazine highlighting a grassroots perspective and efforts to ignite democracy. Hosted by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, the program pioneers the largest community media collaboration in the United States. Interviews take place with politicians, celebrities, muckrakers, academics, artists and “just folks.”.

Mon.-Fri., 8 a.m. (LIVE)



Thom Hartmann Program

Thom Hartmann

Thom Hartmann is the nation’s top progressive radio talk show host, according to Talkers Magazine, and is listed among the trade publication’s “Heaviest Hundred: the 100 most important radio talk show hosts of all time.” He is a four-time Project Censored-award-winning, New York Times best-selling author of 22 books in 17 languages on five continents.

Mon.-Fri., 3-6 p.m. (LIVE)



Free Speech Radio News

FSRN

International newscast utilizing on-location stringers of all nationalities, for-on-the- ground and unembedded news. Anchored by Dorian Merina with headlines by Nell Abram and Jes Burns.

Mon.-Fri., 6 p.m.



Explorations in Science

Michio Kaku

Produced by Dr. Michio Kaku, Explorations in Science features news and interviews with leading scientists on science, technology, politics and the environment.


Tuesdays, 7 p.m.



David Pakman Show

David Pakman

The David Pakman Show is a news and political talk program, known for controversial interviews with political and religious extremists, liberal and conservative politicians and other guests. The show, which has been involved in a number of controversies involving challenges to homophobic and racist guests, focuses on the politics and news of the day, technology and energy development, business, religion and other topics.

Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m.



Classic Drama & Comedy

David Pakman

A few popular comedies and dramas continued to draw listeners during the 1950s and 1960s even as other series were making the transition to television. Hear the best of these weekday nights: Suspense (Mon.), X Minus One (Tues.), Great Gildersleeve (Wed.), Our Miss Brooks (Thurs.), The Couple Next Door (Fri.), Gunsmoke (Sat.) and Yours Truly Johnny Dollar (Sun.).

Sun.-Sat., 10:00 p.m., 1 a.m.


Listen Anywhere


Web

WHAV.net
WHAV.TV (Open Mike Show only)
WHAV.org

Cable TV

• Andover: Channel 8
• Haverhill: Channel 22
• Methuen, Channels 8 + 22 (Comcast)
& 32* (Verizon Fios)
• Plaistow, Channel 17
• Sandown, Channel 17

* Methuen Channel 32 is heard statewide in communities with Verizon Fios cable television service.

A special thanks to the boards, management, staffs and members of the public access television stations above for bringing not-for-profit WHAV to those without Internet access! If you would like to hear WHAV on your cable television system, call your cable company or public access station. For more information, call (978) 374-2111.

Radio

1640 AM

Cell Phone

Visit www.WHAV.net  with your smartphone and be automatically directed to a page specially formatted for your small screen.

About WHAV

The WHAV call letters have been associated with local broadcasting since 1947. WHAV is today operated by Public Media of New England Inc., a not-for-profit corporation. Since 2004, the call has served the Merrimack Valley’s pioneer Internet radio station at WHAV.net and a number of public access cable television stations in Andover, Haverhill and Methuen, and Plaistow and Sandown, N.H. The station is also heard over AM 1640 in northern Haverhill and Plaistow, N.H.

Public Media of New England, Inc.
WHAV
189 Ward Hill Ave.
Haverhill, MA 01835

Business Office: (978) 374-2111


Lahey
 
Dr. Frank Lahey of Haverhill, sitting center, knew President Franklin D. Roosevelt would die in office.

Open Mike Show: Haverhill Heritage Series
Haverhill’s Dr. Lahey Took FDR Secret
to the Grave; Likely Influenced VP Pick

By Tim Coco
WHAV President & General Manager (volunteer)

Haverhill native Frank Howard Lahey (1880-1953) took a dark secret to his grave. He knew in 1944 that President Franklin D. Roosevelt would not survive a fourth term and feared being criticized for not making his findings public.

The Open Mike Show took time March 4—the 80th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inauguration—to dig into Lahey’s secret. Roosevelt indeed died three months into his fourth term. The renowned suregon was conflicted between his confidential duty to a patient and his obligation as a citizen.

“I am recording these opinions in the light of having informed Admiral (Ross T.) McIntire Saturday afternoon July 8, 1944 that I did not believe that, if Mr. Roosevelt were elected President again, he had the physical capacity to complete a term,” Lahey wrote in the July 10, 1944 memo that would be sealed for 60 years. Lahey specified the conditions upon which the memorandum might be revealed.

“It is to be opened and utilized only in the event that there might be criticism of me should this later eventuate and the criticism be directed towards me for not having made this public. As I see my duty as a physician, I cannot violate my professional position nor possible professional confidence, but I do wish to be on record concerning possible later criticism,” Lahey wrote.

Lahey was asked by McIntire, the president’s personal physician, for a second opinion on Roosevelt’s health. Lahey concluded Roosevelt either had been in heart failure or “on the verge of it” during a recent wartime conference in Russia. He said the president suffered by high blood pressure and coronary damage.

While Roosevelt decided to continue his run for an unprecedented fourth term, the surgeon likely influenced the vice presidential decision when he wrote, “I have told Admiral McIntire that I feel strongly that if he does accept another term, he had a very serious responsibility concerning who is the Vice President. Admiral McIntire agrees with this and has, he states, so informed Mr. Roosevelt.” The president privately replaced Vice President Henry A. Wallace on the ticket with Senator Harry S. Truman the day after the Lahey memo. Truman officially replaced Wallace during the Democratic convention later that month.

Despite court case, secrecy persists

In 1984, Dr. Harry Goldsmith convinced Linda M. Strand, who signed the letter as a witness and succeeded Lahey after his death in 1953, that the conditions for the letter’s release had been met. Goldsmith had heard of the letter’s existence from another of Lahey’s former colleagues. Lawyers at Herrick and Smith, Boston, who had held the letter in the firm’s safe, refused to release it. Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Jeremiah J. Sullivan sided with the law firm. Strand, supported by the National Archives and Records Administration, among others, appealed.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, taking the appeal for itself and hearing the matter between Dec. 5, 1985 and Feb. 18, 1986, agreed with Strand. “The evidence presented suggests that Dr. Lahey was part of a conspiracy of silence regarding President Roosevelt’s ill health. These opinions, regardless of their validity, constitute posthumous criticism of Dr. Lahey ‘for his conduct in relation to his consultation and his failure to make a public report thereof’ (emphasis added). The condition precedent to Herrick & Smith’s redelivery of the ‘Lahey memorandum’ has occurred. Strand is entitled to possession of the memorandum,” the court ruled.

Strand turned the memo over to Goldsmith who held the letter in continued secrecy for another 21 years until he self-published “A Conspiracy of Silence: The Health and Death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.” The then-little-known book received scant attention. Only recently, when Lahey’s Dr. David Steinberg discussed the letter, did the facts finally become common knowledge.

Lahey, one of the first inductees into the Haverhill Citizens Hall of Fame, founded the Lahey Clinic. He was president of the American Medical Association in 1941, head of the Army and Navy Procurement Board in World War II and was recognized for numerous contributions to medical practices and research. His father owned the successful Fletcher and Lahey construction and quarry business, and asked his son to join the business. Lahey, however, went to Harvard Medical School and trained as a surgeon, served in World War I and then opened his own practice in 1926 in Kenmore Square, Boston.

Upcoming Haverhill Heritage Series’ segments will feature: Construction of I-495, Louis H. Hamel’s Second Life as Fred Allen’s Sidekick and more.

The Open Mike Show, broadcast live from WHAV’s Edwin V. Johnson Newsroom, is heard Monday nights between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. A video simulcast is seen on the Internet at www.WHAV.net and Haverhill Community Television Channel 22. In addition to listener calls, original investigative reporting and topics in the news, the show’s Haverhill Heritage Series has shed light on such topics as “Haverhill’s Urban Renewal Program,” “Haverhill’s Titanic Newspaper Battle” and “How FM Inventor Armstrong Links to Two Sisters from Merrimac and Poet Whittier.

Lahey

 
Dr. Frank Laheys secret memo of July 10, 1944


WHAV Radio College Internship Program
WHAV Announces College
Student Internship Opportunities

WHAV has openings for newsroom interns. Interns learn to gather, write, announce and edit news stories. In addition, students may cover live events/conduct remotes, record actualities in the field, produce talk shows, voice community calendar announcements and more.

Overview

The WHAV Radio College Internship Program is designed to provide practical, on-the-job experience to students interested in pursuing careers in broadcasting, journalism and related fields. The program is year-round and may be adapted to students on both semester and quarter systems. Internships are generally limited to two one semester/quarter, but may be extended to two with supervisor and school approval. The internship is unpaid.
 
Hours
Interns will generally work 15 to 20 hours per week. Most schedules are flexible, and efforts are made to accommodate school schedules.
 
Eligibility

A prospective intern must be a student currently enrolled in an accredited college and/or university with at least a 2.5 (C+) cumulative grade point average. The student must be receiving course credit for the internship. Students are required to provide “proof of credit” for the internship from their college or university. Reliable transportation is a must.
 
Selection/Placement

The student should submit a resume with a cover letter to WHAV. The cover letter should also indicate dates and times of availability. Please, no telephone calls. Materials may be emailed to [email protected] or sent to:

WHAV
189 Ward Hill Avenue
Haverhill, MA 01835


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