[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 98 (Tuesday, July 25, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7538-S7539]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            A TRIBUTE TO ``TALK OF VERMONT'S'' JEFF KAUFMAN

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today I would like to mark the end 
of an era in Vermont. Jeff Kaufman, host of Vermont's award-winning 
program, ``The Talk of Vermont,'' will hang up his headphones at the 
end of this week. After 5 years on the air in Middlebury, Jeff and his 
family are leaving the Green Mountain State for the arguably less green 
pastures of Southern California.
  A fixture on Vermont morning radio and a catalyst for thoughtful and 
provocative discussion of the key issues facing our state and nation, 
Jeff has not only brought wit and wisdom to the airwaves, but he has 
consistently managed to recruit big-name guests--Lily Tomlin, Ted 
Williams, Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist--to our small-
market corner of the world, while never neglecting lesser-known local 
voices. Above all else, Jeff does his homework--he is equally adept at 
understanding the intricacies of missile defense as he is the physics 
of baseball.
  While living in Middlebury, Jeff did not just entertain his listeners 
on the radio, but he became a valued member of the community, whether 
it was raising money for flood victims or serving as a member of the 
Citizens of Middlebury.
  I am certain that I speak for my colleagues in the Vermont 
Congressional delegation--each of us has had the pleasure of Jeff's 
unique brand of inquisition--when I say that he will be a tough act to 
follow. He has provided an extraordinary service to Vermonters who have 
benefitted from his professionalism, his insights and his curiosity. I 
would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Jeff for a job well 
done and to wish him and his family well in every future endeavor.
  Mr. President, I ask to have printed in the Record a profile of Jeff 
from The Burlington Free Press, dated July 23, 2000.
  The material follows:

[[Page S7539]]

            [From the Burlington Free Press, July 23, 2000]

     Radio's Inventive ``Talk of Vermont'' Is About To Grow Silent

                          (By Chris Bohjalian)

       It is an overcast weekday morning smack in the center of 
     summer. It is hot and sticky, and there's absolutely nothing 
     in the air that might be mistaken for a breeze.
       I am leaning against the side of a gazebo in Middlebury 
     during the town's annual celebration on the green, waiting 
     for Jeff Kaufman, host of the WFAD radio show ``The Talk of 
     Vermont,'' to arrive. The show is about to broadcast live 
     from the commons.
       Abruptly, a slim guy with hair the color of sand just after 
     the surf has receded coasts across the grass on a bicycle 
     with a copy of one of my books under his arm. He says 
     something I can't hear to the engineer, who is battling with 
     miles of wires and the sort of microphone that I thought 
     existed only in radio and television museums, and the 
     engineer laughs. Then he turns to me and introduces himself.
       This is Kaufman, and no more than 90 seconds later--still 
     without breaking a sweat, despite the heat and his last-
     minute arrival--he has me seated in a folding metal chair, 
     and we are on the air. It is clear within minutes that he not 
     only has read my most recent novel, be has read the ones that 
     preceded it. All of them. He has read the column I write for 
     this newspaper. He has read a surprising number of the 
     articles I have written for different magazines.
       You have no idea how rare this is.
       I have done easily a hundred-plus radio and television 
     interviews in my life, and the vast majority of the time the 
     very first question I am asked is this: ``So, tell us about 
     your new book.'' The reason? There is a not a soul in the 
     studio other than me, including the person with whom I am 
     speaking, who has the slightest idea what the book is 
     about.
       In truth, why should they? How could they? Think of the 
     number of guests who pass through a radio or television talk 
     show every week. It's huge, and it takes time to read a 
     novel.
       Almost every weekday morning for the better part of a 
     decade, Kaufman has done his homework on his guests and then 
     offered the state some of the very best radio in Vermont. 
     Sometimes his show has been broadcast on five stations, and 
     sometimes it has been on only one, but it has never affected 
     the first-rate quality of the program.
       It was three years ago that I met Kaufman on the commons in 
     Middlebury, and I have come to discover that day in, day out 
     he corralled terrific guests. Lily Tomlin one day, Ted 
     Williams the next. One morning he might be moderating a live 
     debate between U.S. Senate hopefuls Jan Backus and Ed 
     Flanagan, and the next he might be chatting with Middlebury 
     biographer, poet and novelist Jay Parini about--basketball.
       On any given day, he was as likely to have an acrobat from 
     the Big Apple Circus performing--literally--on the stool in 
     his studio as he was to have an expert from Washington, D.C., 
     on the proposed ``Star Wars'' missile defense system.
       Now, alas, we are about to begin Kaufman's last week. He 
     and his family are leaving for California in early August, 
     and Kaufman will no longer be a fixture on Vermont radio. 
     There is no question in my mind that this is a real loss--and 
     not simply because Kaufman is a first-rate interviewer and 
     radio personality. He was also a part of the community. He 
     used his show to find food and clothes for those families 
     that had to leave their homes after the summer flood of 1998, 
     and to raise money to help build a new Lincoln Library.
       Sometimes I wonder if Kaufman had the ratings he deserved, 
     but regardless of whether he had 12 or 1,200 people tuned in, 
     he never gave his audience a small-market effort.
       Happy trails, my friend. We'll miss you.

                          ____________________