[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

                                 ______
                                 

                        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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