Note: Thanks to Newhouse Professor Tina Perkins, WJPZ Class of 1993, for editing this episode of the pod.
Sue Mandel and Rob Weingarten may be the first marriage to come out of WJPZ. Members of the Class of 1985, they met on campus when they realized they went to rival high schools. In fact, in Sue's pictures of her high school boyfriends playing sports - Rob's often in the picture as the opponent! 35 years, several moves, and two kids later, he's still in the picture.
Today's WJPZ power couple were station leaders when we went to the FM dial. Sue's news department covered everything from the AIDS epidemic to the Grand Slam murder in Syracuse - yes, we have another Denny's reference in this episode. Rob's sports staff covered everything they could - including the high school basketball games of Felisha Legette-Jack, now the head coach of the Syracuse Women's team.
Sue decided she did not want to pursue the on-air route, so she got into the sales side of things, working remotely waaay before it was en vogue. Rob's sports career included work at WFAN, and helming sports stations in DC, St. Louis, and Tampa. He also began traveling for work - commuting to some of these gigs from Florida....as these Syracuse grads quickly fell in love with the Tampa climate.
Now, Rob works for the Gem Shopping Network - serving high end clientele with the hosting skills he first honed at WJPZ.
And you won't want to miss the story of an on-campus concert with James Brown, and what that had to do with New York State raising the legal drinking age to 21.
The WJPZ at 50 Podcast Series is produced by Jon Gay, Class of 2002, and his podcast production agency, JAG in Detroit Podcasts.
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