MY FIFTEEN MINUTES OF FAME WITH TEDDY BART



 

  Teddy Bart has been a local celebrity since the early 1960's and I have listened to him either on the radio or watched him on the WSM Noon Show. On radio I remember him on WSM's early morning show during the 1970's called the Waking Crew and in 1984 he started a political talk show called the Round Table. Because of Ronald Reagan I was a new convert to Conservativism in the early 1980's but I always liked listening to Teddy. I felt that he was fair. He had a wide variety of guest's that represented both sides of the issues. I looked at Teddy himself as somewhat left of center but I respected him. After Rush Limbaugh revolutionized talk radio, for the better in my opinion, I still enjoyed listening to the Round Table in the morning on Super Talk 99.7 WWTN. I especially liked listening to Crom Carmichael who was the resident Conservative, his sidekick Karla Evans, Jimmy Davy on sports, along with others that I can't recall their names now and the many guests that he had on. I listened to my radio either in my car or while cutting material in the TBR Stock Prep Department at Bridgestone Tire Company in Lavergne Tn. Teddy was on the air from about 7:00 AM until 10:00 Am. At 9:00 AM he would interview a guest, one on one.

  One particular morning he had a man on that had written a book about the Old West and he sounded like a man similar to myself, a self educated common ordinary guy. The movie Gettysburg had just come out and I wrote Teddy a letter suggesting that we could talk about the Civil War and the movie, which I had seen at least three times. I was really shocked when Teddy wrote me back and said that he wanted to have me on his show. I ended up doing three shows with him. My first show was in November 1992 and we talked about the historical accuracy of the movie. I think I did a good job but you are always your own worst critic. I was nervous and I felt I could have given better answers on several questions. For example on the second show, I did right after Christmas, a caller asked me to recommend some good books about the battles of Franklin and Nashville. Normally I could recommend many books on those battles but my mind went totally blank and all I could do was suggest that he go to the Stones River Battlefield bookstore. However the shows generated a lot of interest and many people called in to comment or ask questions.

  These first two shows were done at the WWTN studio on West End. Teddy, however, had started a show at the Wild Boar Restaurant and during the 9:00 AM segment he would interview a guest during the first half hour and a second guest during the last half hour. He invited me to do the last half of a show in April 1993. His first guest was Channel 5 Anchorman Chris Clark and I had the pleasure of meeting him. I expected to talk about the battle of Shiloh but Teddy threw me a curveball by asking me about white supremacy and the Confederate flag. I think I adjusted well and before it was over I got into a spirited exchange with Karla Evans. Doing these shows provided some great memories for me and it was a lot of fun and I will forever be grateful to Teddy for having me as a guest.


Comments

  1. That is super cool Greg! Thanks for sharing your stories.

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