-Isms: Views on life in rural America

Years ago, on late evening car trips, Dad would turn the dial to WLS or KOMA or WOAI - radio stations based in Chicago, Oklahoma City and San Antonio. The radio’s light illuminated my parents’ 1961 Ford Galaxie and later, the 1974 Ford Gran Torino. Turn the dial, watch the red peg move across the screen, landing on 890 or 1490 or 1200 and listen to the family singalong, even though static may have served as a scratchy filter.

Once home, I’d move the dial until one of the stations - usually KOMA - came in on my Emerson dual AM/FM radio and cassette player (a Christmas gift from my Larson grandp...