[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 220 (Thursday, December 23, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1391-E1392]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              CONGRATULATING RAY DUNAWAY ON HIS RETIREMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN B. LARSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 23, 2021

  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Madam Speaker, Ray Dunaway has been the 
voice of Connecticut for nearly three decades. Ray was hired by WTIC-AM 
to replace another Connecticut legend, Bob Steele in 1992. Since then, 
he's been the voice of talk radio in Connecticut each and every 
morning. Over his tenure, he's helped raise millions of dollars for the 
Greater Hartford Salvation Army through his annual holiday store. I 
have had the pleasure of joining Ray over the years and I'm honored to 
call him a friend. Both the following articles from the Hartford 
Courant and the Journal Inquirer capture what Ray has meant to the 
citizens of the state of Connecticut. I look forward to tuning in to 
his last show tomorrow morning on Christmas Eve. We wish him well in 
retirement and know his voice will always be missed.

               [From the Hartford Courant, Nov. 19, 2021]

              ``Veteran Radio Voice Dunaway To Sign Off''

                        (By Kenneth R. Gosselin)

       Ray Dunaway, the morning radio personality who followed the 
     legendary Bob Steele on WTIC-AM and won over listeners with a 
     relaxed but informed conversational style, will retire from 
     the radio station next month after 29 years.
       ``You just get tired of waking up,'' Dunaway said. ``You 
     just do. I love the morning. I do. I wouldn't do any other 
     shift, but the thing is, after a period of time, it's kind of 
     like you've been there, done that. And I think it's time for 
     somebody fresh to take a look at it.''
       Dunaway, 72, said the decision to retire from the morning 
     show, which airs weekdays from 5:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., was 
     entirely his own. His last show will be on Dec. 24.
       His co-host, Brian Shactman, will continue to host the 
     morning show, the station's parent company, Audacy, said.
       Dunaway was hired to replace Steele in 1992, bringing with 
     him more than two decades of radio experience elsewhere in 
     the country. Steele had a storied local broadcasting career 
     spanning more than five decades, and Dunaway would be 
     Steele's second replacement. Steele's immediate successor 
     lasted just a year.
       ``The fact of the matter is, it was nerve-wracking because 
     I had gone to Trinity [College] and my roommate used to 
     listen to Bob religiously,'' Dunaway said. ``He was really 
     good. It was a great responsibility taking over that job.''
       Quick acceptance wasn't a sure thing for Dunaway with the 
     memory of Steele still fresh and dissatisfaction among some 
     viewers about a move by WTIC to talk radio.
       ``Connecticut-ites weren't necessarily going to make that 
     easy,'' recalled Gary Zenobi, then general manager of WTIC, 
     who hired Dunaway. ``But he filled Bob Steele's shoes in a 
     different way. Formats were changing. Ray was just perfect 
     for that because he could hold a conversation not just 
     about anything but with anyone.''
       Dunaway's arrival also coincided with rapid changes in AM 
     radio. WTIC's daytime music listeners were moving to FM 
     radio, leaving AM stations like WTIC to carve out a different 
     niche, which turned out to be talk radio.
       Dunaway's popularity with listeners survived four ownership 
     changes at WTIC and a relocation from One Financial Plaza, 
     the ``Gold Building'' in downtown Hartford, to Farmington in 
     the early 2000s. The tone of talk radio has turned more 
     contentious and far less civil since Dunaway joined WTIC.
       ``It is polarizing, no doubt, but the good ones try to make 
     it as fair as they possibly can,'' Dunaway said. ``You can 
     have your point of view. There's nothing wrong with that, and 
     you are able to share it.'' Dunaway said he worked earlier in 
     his career with conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh, who 
     died in February. Dunaway said he considered Limbaugh someone 
     who thought things through before expressing his opinions.

[[Page E1392]]

     Limbaugh would also become part of the weekday lineup on 
     WTIC.
       Dunaway said there now is pressure to mix it up whether it 
     be on radio or television.
       ``The whole thing is fight-sell,'' Dunaway said. ``People 
     like fights. It doesn't help anything. [Conservative 
     intellectual] William F. Buckley wouldn't have survived 
     today.''
       Dunaway said he has strived to keep the morning show on the 
     lighter side.
       One of this favorite interviews came in 1994 when then-
     First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton came on the air to push her 
     husband's plan for health care reform.
       Clinton jolted local listeners with the frank assessment 
     that the plan might cost some jobs--paper-pushing jobs, as 
     she called them--in Hartford. Some of those jobs, Dunaway 
     said, were in buildings he could see from his studio on the 
     19th floor of the Gold Building.
       Dunaway, according to a report in The Courant, observed the 
     government didn't have a great track record of containing 
     costs, asking, ``How can we trust you this time?''
       Return to Hartford
       When Dunaway arrived in downtown Hartford in 1992, he found 
     a city changed vastly in appearance from when he attended 
     Trinity two decades earlier. The 1980s building boom had 
     given rise to skyscrapers like CityPlace and Goodwin Square.
       But the early 1990s also was marked by economic recession 
     and a bad after-taste from the Colonial Realty Co. collapse 
     that cost ``Mom & Pop'' investors their life savings in a 
     bigger-than-life fraud scheme.
       Dunaway said the election of Hartford Mayor Michael P. 
     Peters, the wisecracking firefighter, in 1993, started to tum 
     things around. The two quickly became good friends and often 
     ran into each other at the old Chuck's steakhouse in downtown 
     Hartford. Peters, who died in 2009, was a frequent guest on 
     Dunaway's show.
       ``Mike Peters got things done . . . . He had no real 
     political power, but through the force of his personality 
     managed to get things done,'' Dunaway said. ``He changed the 
     attitude, let's put it that way.'' That set the stage for 
     big-ticket Hartford investments like the Connecticut 
     Convention Center, Front Street--and more recently, the 
     addition of thousands of apartments downtown, Dunaway said.
       Dunaway started in radio at age 17 on a Topeka, Kansas, 
     station before attending Trinity. It was at this station 
     where Dunaway--born Goldsich--would get his professional 
     name.
       ``I wanted to be J. Michael Wilson or Ray Michael Wilson,'' 
     Dunaway said. ``The guy at the station said, `Nah, I don't 
     like that name. Let's find another one.' So, he got the phone 
     book and he said, `Ray Rodriguez? How about Ray Dunaway?' I 
     said, `Sure.' I wanted the job.''
       Later, Dunaway worked in Detroit, Dallas and Los Angeles 
     before spending 15 years at KMBZAM in Kansas City, Missouri, 
     as a morning show host.
       In Greater Hartford, Dunaway's popularity has drawn 
     attention to philanthropic causes, one of the largest being 
     the annual Salvation Army Holiday Store. Dunaway got involved 
     soon after arriving in Hartford, broadcasting his shows daily 
     from holiday-store locations each December.
       The holiday store first started on Pratt Street in downtown 
     Hartford and later moved to Avon and Glastonbury.
       Salvation Army Major Migdalia Lavenbein, area coordinator 
     for Greater Hartford, said the holiday store has raised 
     millions since Dunaway became involved.
       ``Even beyond the money, he has helped transform lives; 
     we're not just talking about toys and food and monetary 
     gifts,'' Lavenbein said. ``He has been in the business of 
     helping people who were at the bottom. They've hit rock 
     bottom, and he's helped lift people up and place them in a 
     position where they have hope. You can't say that about 
     everyone.''
       Dunaway's last day at WTIC will be when the holiday store 
     wraps up for the season on Christmas Eve.
       And after that? Well, Dunaway said he has to figure out 
     what retirement will be. He plans to stay in the area but do 
     some traveling--and read. ``I love to read,'' he said.
       One thing he is absolutely sure about, though is this: ``I 
     just don't want to see another sunrise,'' Dunaway said, 
     quickly adding, ``Now don't take that the wrong way.''
                                  ____


               [From the Journal Inquirer, Nov. 22, 2021]

      ``Dunaway Reflects on 29 Years Behind the WTIC Microphone''

                           (By Matt Buckler)

       Ray Dunaway doesn't sound like a man who has had an 
     important job for the past 29 years. He sounds more as a 
     person who has been on a 29-year joyride. Dunaway, 72, who 
     announced his retirement Monday from his job as morning host 
     at WTIC-AM 1080, remembers the good times in a job that he 
     started in 1992.
       ``I love it, it's been fun,'' Dunaway said. ``The station 
     has been good to me. They have taken care of me. I love the 
     city. I love the area. I've worked in Dallas, I've worked in 
     Detroit, I've worked in Los Angeles and I've worked in Kansas 
     City, but at this radio station, WTIC, you can become a key 
     part of the community, and I like that. You feel like you're 
     doing something useful.''
       When Dunaway arrived at WTIC, replacing Tom McCarthy, who 
     replaced the legendary Bob Steele, he said he never expected 
     to last for 29 years.
       ``I hoped,'' Dunaway said. ``But you have to be somewhat 
     existential. You live in the minute, and if you do well 
     enough, you'll get another minute. Don't forget, I replaced 
     Tom McCarthy and the management told him that Bob Steele was 
     here for 60 years and you'll be around for that long. A year 
     later, he was gone. So this can be a cruel business. You have 
     to live in the minute.''
       There have been 29 years, however, of great minutes for 
     Dunaway, a Trinity College graduate who has been working in 
     radio since he was 17. When Dunaway came to Hartford from 
     Kansas City, AM radio was in a transition period, moving from 
     a music format to a talk format. Dunaway said he was on board 
     with it.
       ``The transition had already started with Tom McCarthy and 
     I know there was some resistance to it,'' Dunaway said. ``But 
     the way I look at it, there are so many sources for music, 
     especially with the Internet. We try to provide local 
     information--local, local, local, local. And I worked very 
     hard at it, trying to get local people on the show--local 
     lawmakers, local town officials. Keep the show local. And 
     that's the one thing that you can't do on the Internet.''
       It turned out to be a successful format. Dunaway said his 
     program has been an ensemble show, with contributions from 
     many people. His co-hosts have included Robin King, Diane 
     Smith, Scott Gray, Joe D'Ambrosio and Brian Shactman,
       ``I just like to work with people,'' Dunaway said. ``It's 
     far easier for me than to keep my yap going all the time. I 
     like to bounce off other people. It's always been a team 
     thing and I wouldn't have it any other way. I wasn't born to 
     be a star.''
       Dunaway was a star as far as many state charities and 
     organizations are concerned. ``I had the opportunity to do 
     some incredible things,'' Dunaway said. ``I've done a lot of 
     fundraisers. This station is such a key part of the 
     community.''
       Dunaway puts at the top of his achievement list his 
     association with the WTIC-AM holiday store, which collects 
     donations for the Salvation Army. He will be involved with 
     the store one more time this December before he retires.
       ``I dread it, but I also love it,'' Dunaway said. ``I dread 
     it because there is so much pressure on us to do well. So 
     many people are counting on us. But it usually turns out 
     well. That's why I love it.''He also loves his association 
     with the Manchester Road Race, hanging out for the past 
     several years at Highland Park Market, a job that started 
     ``as a lark.''
       ``It's great to meet so many people,'' Dunaway said. ``You 
     have to be a little crazy to run a race on Thanksgiving 
     morning. And there is a lot of craziness that day.''
       Dunaway is also crazy about the city of Hartford and 
     doesn't hide his enthusiasm.
       ``I have enjoyed watching this city grow, and I think I've 
     been a part of that,'' Dunaway said. ``Front Street, the 
     Convention Center, there have been some drastic improvements. 
     I want people to be proud of this place because it's a pretty 
     darn good place.
       ``There was a scene in `Midnight Cowboy' where Joe Buck 
     turns on his little radio and it's on WABC and he says, 
     `That's New York talking.' That's kind of what I tried to do 
     here. When someone is listening to us, they'll say, `That's 
     Hartford talking.' I am trying to create a positive image.''
       Dunaway said it's been 29 years of positivity.
       ``The No. 1 thing I'm going to miss are the people, I've 
     met so many great people,'' Dunaway said. ``I know it sounds 
     like crap, but it's true.''
       The one thing he won't miss is the early morning wakeup 
     call.
       ``I plan on sleeping in,'' Dunaway said. ``I really don't 
     have any retirement goals. I plan to read the paper, write 
     angry letters to the editor and be a crank in general. 
     General Douglas MacArthur said that old soldiers don't die, 
     they just fade away. Well, I'm planning on just fading 
     away.''
       His final morning show will take place on Friday, Dec. 24.
       ``Things will be OK for a week, and then it will hit me,'' 
     Dunaway said. ``I'm not here anymore. And I'm really going to 
     miss this place. It's been fun.''
       For Dunaway, it wasn't a job, it was a pleasure.

                          ____________________