[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 137 (Thursday, October 17, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1905]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO RICHARD TUISKU ON THE OCCASION OF HIS INDUCTION INTO THE
MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS HALL OF FAME
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HON. BART STUPAK
of michigan
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay special tribute to a
person whose voice is the sound of news for generations of radio
listeners in Michigan's Upper Peninsula Copper Country. Mr. Speaker, I
rise to honor Richard Tuisku, known to his listeners as Dick Storm, on
the occasion of his recent induction into the Michigan Association of
Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
Richard Tuisku was born 59 years ago in a small town called Toivola
in Houghton County Michigan. He graduated from Michigan Technological
University in Houghton and also went to broadcasting school in
Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1962 he began his broadcasting career at
WSWW in Platteville, Wisconsin, using the name Dick Storm because he
thought his Finnish last name, Tuisku, would be too difficult for his
co-workers and listeners to pronounce correctly.
He chose the radio name ``Storm'' because it is a reasonably close
English word for his given last name, Tuisku, which roughly translates
to blizzard in Finnish. Two years later Dick Storm moved back to the
Upper Peninsula and began working at a radio station in Hancock. He
changed jobs but still did news at WCCY an AM/FM combo station in
Houghton. Copper Country radio audiences have been getting their news
from Dick for almost forty years.
In 1994 he and a partner purchased the Houghton AM/FM stations he
worked at and they are now WCCY AM and WOLV FM. Despite being an owner
of the stations, Dick continues to work six days a week doing the news
and hosting a weekly public affairs program.
Dick is not the only public spirited member of the household. Mary
Tuisku, his wife, served as mayor of Hancock from 1990 until 1995.
In recognition of his many years of radio news and public affairs
broadcasting, Dick was inducted into the Michigan Association of
Broadcasters Hall of Fame in the summer of 2002.
Mr. Speaker, many people complain when they have to get up early to
go to work, Dick Storm has been getting up before dawn for forty years
to do radio news. I ask you and my House colleagues to join me in
saluting a legendary broadcaster and a long time friend of mine,
Richard Tuisku (a/k/a Dick Storm) on the occasion of his induction into
the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
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