[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 183 (Friday, November 17, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S17359]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     WALTER J. BROWN: A TRUE FRIEND

 Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, it is with great sadness that I 
rise today to pay tribute to one of my dearest friends, Walter J. Brown 
of Spartanburg, who passed away this morning at the age of 92. My 
personal sense of loss is compounded as the city of Spartanburg and the 
entire State of South Carolina also will miss Walter's warmth, service, 
generosity, and integrity.
  Mr. President, Walter Brown was a pioneer in television and the 
communications industry in South Carolina. As founder in 1940 of the 
Spartan Radiocasting Co., now Spartan Communications, Inc., Walter 
built WSPA into a broadcasting powerhouse. His WSPA-AM was South 
Carolina's first radio station. Similarly, WSPA-FM was the State's 
first FM station and the first to broadcast in stereo in the Southeast.
  But Walter Brown's crowning achievement is how he built WSPA-TV into 
a CBS stronghold in the Piedmont area. First on the air in 1956, WSPA-
TV is known throughout South Carolina and the South as a premier 
broadcaster that reports the news, but also works to better the 
community.
  Mr. President, Walter Brown was born in Bowman, GA. He was educated 
at Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia's Henry W. Grady School 
of Journalism. After managing his own news bureau in Washington, DC, he 
moved to Spartanburg to continue his career in journalism.
  During World War II, Mr. Brown returned to Washington to serve as a 
special assistant to James F. Byrnes--before and during the times when 
he was Secretary of State. Later, after he had returned to Spartanburg, 
he wrote a book that remembered all that Senator Byrnes had done for 
the Nation.
  Mr. President, in the years since I was Lieutenant Governor in the 
1950s, Walter Brown was my close friend and adviser. I will miss the 
wise counsel that Walter provided--not only politically but on the full 
range of communications issues. He was fair, insightful, and visionary. 
Our loss is the Nation's loss.
  Mr. President, as we mourn the loss of Walter Brown, let's remember 
how he made South Carolina a better place. Our prayers are with his 
family during this difficult time.

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