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 Previous: Surfin': A Fistful of Palm OS Applications |  Next: SSB, Radar Pioneer Mike Villard, W6QYT, SK |
By John Curry, K5IMC
January 25, 2004
After a successful visit to an elementary school to talk about Amateur Radio, one ham makes an unexpected connection with the inspiration for a ham radio children's book.
It was an unusually warm winter evening in Hallandale Beach, Florida, just north of Miami, as my wife and I pulled into the driveway of a large condominium building by the ocean and spotted a distinguished-looking man standing by the entrance. In response to my inquiry, he confirmed that he was, indeed, Bob Marx. I was eager to meet Bob after two months of phone calls and e-mails because, to me, he was a fictional character who had come to life.
 Ed Middlebrook, KC5NT, leads a classroom discussion on the Amateur Radio children's book Radio Rescue, by Lynne Barasch. [John Chamberlain, AC5CV, photo] |
The story of our meeting began in November 2002, when I accompanied two other members of the Heart of Texas Amateur Radio club in Waco--Ed Middlebrook, KC5NT, and John Chamberlain, AC5CV--to the elementary school in West, Texas, for an afternoon of Amateur Radio demonstrations for about 120 third-graders. Most of the students had recently read a children's book called Radio Rescue, by Lynne Barasch. Radio Rescue is a fun book that generated a great deal of interest in Amateur Radio among the children, and the school librarian asked Ed to make a radio presentation. You may be wondering how a radio demonstration for elementary school students in Texas led to a visit to a new friend in Florida some three months later. Well, as I read Radio Rescue in preparation for our visit to the school, I had no idea what was about to happen.
Radio to the Rescue
Barasch, an artist and author of several children's books, wrote and illustrated Radio Rescue. It's a story about a boy who obtains his Amateur Radio license and has a series of ham radio-related adventures that should appeal to all children, regardless of the level of their interest in radio. The book has been nominated for numerous awards for children's literature and was the winner of several, including the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List for 2002-03, an honor that ensures that the book is on a recommended reading list for children in Texas. The book was reviewed in the January 2001 issue of QST. Although it's is a work of fiction, the story is true--the story of Lynne's father, Bob Marx. What makes the story especially appealing is that Bob was first licensed as 2AZK at age 10--in 1923.
When Ed, John and I arrived at the elementary school in
West, we first met with the students in large groups for Ed to lead a
discussion about Radio Rescue, which most of them indicated they had
read. Ed asked questions about the book and received knowledgeable and thorough
answers from the children. We then divided them into smaller groups of about 20
to rotate among three simultaneous hands-on radio exercises.
 Students crowd around a paddle and code practice oscillator to try their hand at Morse code. [John Chamberlain, AC5CV, photo] |
In one classroom, I demonstrated Morse code using a memory keyer and allowed the children to send code with the keyer and to try their hand at an old straight-key-on-board that I had brought. To my surprise the code, which some believe is no longer useful, was a hit with the children, several of whom described it as "cool." Some of the children were also quite adept at sending a few letters on their first try. In the school library, John demonstrated voice communications and the public service aspect of ham radio by having the children use hand-held Family Radio Service radios to call into a base station and report weather "emergencies." Ed's part of the program included a demonstration of ham radio contacts on 10 meter SSB. We had set up the station on a porch just outside the school, as the November day was quite warm, and raised a dipole antenna about 15 feet into the air using a telescoping painter's pole. The students were able to talk with several amateur stations around the United States, including students at a college in California.
Our three demonstrations related to the radio themes of the book: communications, public service and Morse code. Most of the children seemed to be attentive in all the sessions and interested in the content of our presentations. We learned that they were excitedly telling their teacher in a later class about what we had shown them.
 Two boys work together at an "emergency weather station," sending and receiving drill data using FRS radios. [John Chamberlain, AC5CV, photo] |
An Unexpected Call
Because I was favorably impressed with Radio Rescue and with the success the three of us had with our school presentations, I wrote a letter to Barasch, who lives in New York City, to tell her about the experience and about the interest her book was stimulating in Amateur Radio. I mentioned in the letter that I was able to identify with her father's early experiences with Amateur Radio because I was licensed at age 11, although that was 33 years after Bob received his ticket. I did not ask about her father in the letter, however. I thought it possible that Bob had become a silent key because he was not in the FCC database of licensed amateurs and because he wouldn't exactly be a youngster any more.
Exactly one month later, two days before Christmas, the phone rang in the evening. My wife handed me the phone, saying it was "Bob Marx, a ham operator in Florida." I still did not realize who was calling until I picked up the phone and heard a few words of introduction. I responded that I was glad to hear from him and, impolitely I'm sure, said that I did not know he was still alive. Bob replied in a strong voice, "I'm 89 and well."
His daughter Lynne had mailed him a copy of my letter and a copy of her reply to me, which I received a few days later. He was calling to say how pleased he was to learn about our experience with the book. We had a nice conversation, and at some point, I mentioned that my wife and I were planning a trip to Florida in the winter. Bob suggested that we visit him, so we added a stop in Hallandale Beach to our itinerary. In a later phone conversation, we set a tentative date of February 28 for our side trip to south Florida to meet Bob.
Retaining the Code
As Bob ushered us to the 11th floor of his building and into his home, I was impressed with his youthful appearance and demeanor. I had thought he had sounded much younger than his 89 years over the phone, and he was the same in person. Those of us who were licensed at a young age might be tempted to think, upon meeting Bob, that early exposure to Amateur Radio has some sort of continued rejuvenating effect. My wife and I were also pleased to meet Bob's wife, Elaine. The four of us spent an enjoyable evening getting to know one another and had dinner at an excellent Chinese restaurant nearby. Of course, Bob and I spent most of our time discussing Amateur Radio, although he has not been licensed for many years. I presented Bob with the January 2003 issue of QST, which had several articles about vintage radio. I had to admit that what is considered vintage now may be newfangled to him because most of the equipment described in that issue was developed after he left the hobby.
Because Bob is still interested in Morse code, I took along an MFJ memory keyer. He used a straight key, bug and sideswipe key in his day, but he had never seen a simple electronic keyer, much less the memory version. I sent some code and also played some messages I had programmed into the machine for Bob. He took to the code right away and was able to copy over 20 WPM, as well as send some code on a machine that he had never seen--after almost 70 years of inactivity. He recalled that his speed was about 30 WPM at one time.
 At left, Bob Marx, ex-W2AZK, goes through a book with John Curry, K5IMC. Marx is the father of Lynne Barasch, who authored Radio Rescue, a children's book based in part on some of Marx's experiences as a young ham in the 1920s. [Photo courtesy of John Curry, K5IMC] |
Memories of Eighth-Floor DX
Bob had some interesting experiences in the early days of Amateur Radio, some of which are covered in the book. He had quite an impressive array of equipment and says he operated CW rather than spark, as spark had pretty much died out from the ham bands by 1923. Bob was licensed at one of the most exciting times in Amateur Radio, just as the first two-way transatlantic contacts were made between the United States and France in 1923. During his ham career, Bob made a number of DX contacts, working all continents except Asia. He was even able to communicate with the first Byrd Antarctic expedition in 1928 until it was near Brazil, and passed information about Byrd's progress to The New York Times when the Times radio operators could not get through.
No doubt Bob was a sharp operator and it didn't hurt that he was able to string his antenna between the roof of his building and the roof of the building across the street at about the eighth floor level. Bob continued to experience the joys of having a big signal until the New York public works department decided that his antenna had to go. He maintains, however, that he still was able to get out well with a rooftop antenna on that building and, later, on another building after he and his mother moved.
After Bob finished school, he started a career in textiles, which he calls "the thread business," and married Elaine shortly afterward in 1936. In his late 50s, an age when most people are thinking about retirement, Bob bought a new textile agent business in Florida. After about three years of commuting from New York, he and Elaine moved to Florida, where they have lived for the past 30 years. He is still working at age 90, although he doesn't stay very busy because most textile work has moved overseas.
Bob left Amateur Radio behind in 1935 and he no longer has any of his equipment. He retains fond memories of his radio days, however, and is pleased that he still knows the code. As for me, getting to know a real life fictional character who was a ham in the early days of radio has been a wonderful experience that I won't forget, either.
John Curry, K5IMC, was first licensed in 1956. Retired
from the US Office of Personnel Management, Curry is a member of the Heart of
Texas Amateur Radio Club in Waco and the Mount Vernon Amateur Radio Club in
Alexandria, Virginia. He can be reached via e-mail at k5imc@arrl.net.
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