Back in 1963 or 4, our News Director, Robert Potts, and I did WBAI's morning, "Music and News with Albertson and Potts". I took a cab to work every day (they were affordable then), and one summer day, the driver's radio was tuned in to WMCA, a very popular station that was running a contest wherein entrants were required to submit a photo showing the station's call letters on any part of their body by way of a sun tan. The first prize was an automobile awarded for the clearest photo. This inspired us to improvise a scenario in which WBAI listeners exposed their bodies to the sun atop our East 39th Street brownstone, using stencils to acquire the desired effect.
As Bob and I let our imagination run amok describing the scene, we incorporated a a little editorial to point out how discriminatory this contest was to people of dark skin—they would never win that car. Taking that a step further, Bob and I gave out the WMCA phone number, urging our listeners to call that station with a complaint.
We also received calls, including one from a black lady who somewhat angrily informed me that dark complexioned people also get sun tans. When I asked her if she would consider competing against me, she thought about that for about 3 seconds and admitted that I had made a valid point.
Later that morning, WMCA's PR office called me and said they were being inundated with angry calls, so what the hell were we doing? I explained, but the lady was still angry when she hung up. Later that day, her boss, R. Peter Straus, called to apologize and ask that we drop the matter. He admitted that I was right and that the unfair basis for their contest had not occurred to them.
Then he thanked me and said that WMCA wished to contribute to WBAI.
He was obviously trying to make the best of the situation, but I didn't mind being used like that—we had essentially won the game. The attached photo was taken a few days later, on a day when WMCA ran a fairly large ad in the NY Times with a coupon urging people to donate money to us.
By the way, in the late '80s, Mr. Straus married Monica Lewinsky's mother.
