[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 169 (Friday, December 7, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IN MEMORY OF STAN KAPLAN
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HON. JOHN M. SPRATT, JR.
of south carolina
in the house of representatives
Thursday, December 6, 2001
Mr. SPRATT. Mr. Speaker, Stan Kaplan survived the Depression, fought
in World War II, and in 1965 moved with his wife, Sis, to Charlotte,
North Carolina, where they purchased a radio station and took it to the
top of the rating charts. Stan Kaplan died this week, leaving his
adopted community far better than he found it. The Charlotte Observer
sketched his life in an article that I would like to share with other
Members of Congress. One can say of Stan Kaplan's life as another
transplanted Charlottean, Harry Golden, said of his own life: Only in
America.
I submit ``Kaplan, Unsung, if Seldom Unheard, Hero'' for inclusion in
the Record.
Kaplan: Unsung, if Seldom Unheard, Hero
(By Jim Morrill and Mark Washburn)
He was a brash Yankee who brought his liberal politics and
oversize personality to a Southern city that still minded its
manners.
Over the next four decades, Stan Kaplan never changed. But
Charlotte did, often with a nudge from him. That awkward
beginning turned into a comfortable, mutually beneficial
partnership.
Kaplan, who suffered from cancer died late Monday of a
heart attack. He was 76. A funeral will be at noon today at
Temple Beth El, 5101 Providence Road.
Along with his wife, Sis, Kaplan helped transform Charlotte
radio and founded the weekly Leader newspaper. He became a
civic fixture who gave generously to the arts and other
causes, as well as Democratic candidates.
``He was one of the great unsung heroes of Charlotte in the
last 50 years,'' said developer Johnny Harris. ``Stan and Sis
have been such a major part of making this city better for
all the people.''
In a city of gray suits, Kaplan was a Technicolor
character.
With beefy girth and bushy eyebrows, he managed a rumpled
look despite tailored suits and French cuffs. He loved golf,
good cigars and fancy cars. He once drove a Rolls Royce with
a hood ornament that featured his own likeness, cigar and
all.
A Pennsylvania native, he was a consummate salesman.
During the Depression be sold Band-Aids on the street and
one year made more money than his father, a furniture
salesman. After going off to fight in Normandy, he returned
home and bounced around a succession of colleges and jobs in
radio management.
He was working in syndication when he met Sis Atlass. More
smitten with her than she was with him, he turned to a sales
technique: flip charts.
``Stanley's fantastic,'' said one.
``You'll just love being married to him,'' said another.
``He's better looking than you think,'' read a third.
It worked. He and Sis, the daughter of a Chicago
broadcasting executive, decided to buy their own radio
station. Scouring the country, they settled in 1965 on a
small Charlotte station called WAYS-AM, then in last place
among eight AM stations.
The Kaplans renamed it ``Big WAYS,'' changed the music to
Top 40--then an alien format in the Carolinas--and spent
lavishly on talent. Kaplan had a gift for gimmicks, and his
first one shot the station past market leader WBT, then a
courtly CBS affiliate still airing ``The Arthur Godfrey
Show'' and soap operas.
He buried $10,000 and launched the ``Big-WAYS'' treasure
hunt, giving clues over the air. The hunt transformed
Charlotte into a moonscape of craters. Excavations were found
in vacant lots, parks and private yards. Police complained.
So did the Federal Communications Commission. But Kaplan was
undeterred, telling a critic at The Charlotte News, ``You can
say what you want, just get my call letters right.''
The critic was John Kilgo, who later worked for Kaplan as
news director of WAYS and is now associate publisher of The
Leader.
``He was an extremely competitive man,'' Kilgo said. ``He
would win the ratings battle and send a ratings book over to
WBT to make sure they saw it.''
Jim Babb, then general sales manager at WBT, said,
``Stanley turned the radio market upside down for the paltry
sum of $10,000.''
Riding rock music's surge of popularity, ``Sixty-wonderful
WAYS'' was soon king of Charlotte radio and the talk of the
industry. Kaplan bought another station--WROQ-FM--in 1972. He
had an eye for talent and hired a hit parade of personalities
including Morton Downey Jr., Jay Thomas, Robert Murphy, Long
John Silver and Jack Gale.
``Stan hired people a little left of center, brilliant
broadcasters but quirky in their own way. But Stan loved
that. They were personalities,'' said NBC6 forecaster Larry
Sprinkle, who spent 13 years at the station.
Since 1950, when he campaigned in Boston for a young Jack
Kennedy's congressional campaign, Kaplan remained a fan of
the family, campaigning later for Bobby and Ted Kennedy. On
the Kaplans' 10th anniversary, they were feted at a party by
Bobby Kennedy's widow, Ethel.
``I don't know anybody who knew Stanley who didn't love
him,'' said former Kennedy aide Frank Mackiewicz.
He donated generously to N.C. Democrats, including Harvey
Gantt, Jim Hunt and John Edwards.
``While he loved politics, you wouldn't say he was politic
himself,'' said retired banker Hugh McColl Jr., a longtime
friend. ``Stanley was an in-your-face kind of guy.''
The outspoken Kaplan once shoved a WBT reporter, which
brought him an assault charge and eventual acquittal.
Through it all, he remained a salesman. Selling his radio
stations, buying a newspaper, selling it and buying it again.
``He couldn't stay out of the action,'' said McColl. ``I
was always advising him to enjoy the roses, but that wasn't
him. He was always back in the fray. Loved it too much. Loved
the competition.''
In addition to his wife, Kaplan is survived by daughters
Leslie Kaplan Schlernitzauer and Susan Kaplan Guild. The
family requests memorials be made to Temple Beth El, or to
Charlotte Children's Hospital Fund in honor of Grace
Schlernitzauer through the Foundation for the Carolinas, 217
S. Tryon St.
In an unusual tribute, at least 14 Charlotte radio stations
will observe a moment of silence this afternoon in Kaplan's
memory.
Jay Thomas, the former Kaplan DJ who went on to become a TV
star, last spoke to Kaplan a week ago, as Kaplan lay ill with
cancer. To his surprise, Kaplan started talking about his
latest marketing project for The Leader.
``I said, `Stan, I can't believe you're still trying to
make sales calls,` ' Thomas recalls. ``He said, `Just think.
There's going to be someone out there who's going to say I
was Stan Kaplan's last pitch.' ''
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