Ed And Wendy King: Parties, Pretzels And Punctuality
By EDWARD L. BLANK - Press TV-Radio Writer - 1970

In their 19 years of broadcasting arties, Ed and Wendy King have developed a peculiar talent for conversing as a duet.

While it's not uncommon for their voices to overlap in telling a story, the Kings can interlace sentences so smoothly they give the impression of cueing each other when to cut in.

Wendy failed to bring the sandwich she bad promised to the interviews, but she and Ed compensated by serving bits of chatter about Party Pretzels.

The Pretzel is one of the regular games played on "Party Line" from 9 p.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday on KDKA-Radio. A question is posed by Ed, usually a few minutes before 11 p.m., and listeners have from then till the end of the show to phone in their guesses.

The Party Pretzel and its answer are published the following day in The Press. (Saturday night's Pretzel is published Monday.)

Other games include Leapfrog, Alphabet Soup, Word Tag and Digit.

First To Last

From Ed's opening invitation to join their "Salmagundi" (any mixture or miscellany) to Wendy's closing "Sweet dreams," talk of the pleasantest sort occurs.

"You know," Wendy said, "a woman told me recently: 'Wendy, you're so lucky. You have a party to go to every night.'

Because they've stuck to their guns in not having the callers' voices heard on the air, they are not bothered by the rabble-rousers and nonsensical carryings-on of people who want to hear themselves perform on the radio.
"Ours Is a party," Ed said, "not a soapbox. I think It spoils a party when people get into arguments. We avoid expressing political opinions, biblical interpretations or giving legal or medical advice."

Though the Kings have become thought of as Pittsburghers, neither was born here. Ed, who is told often he has a "fat voice," is a native of La Crosse, Wis., and Wendy is from Ada, Ohio.

They met at Fort Wayne, Ind., where Ed had worked as a writer on a radio station. When he was discharged from military duty, he returned to the station to see who had his job. It was Wendy.

He rejoined the station, married Wendy and was transferred to KDKA 24 years ago this month.

"Party Line" originated five years later on Jan. 1, 1951.

"Let's try it for 13 weeks," Ed and the station managers agreed.

A Man Alone

Wendy was not on the show at first. "I had no intention of joining the show," she said.

When did she change her mind? "The second week," she said.

Over the years their attendance record has been almost impeccable. Apart from vacations, Ed has missed only two shows because of illness and has never been late. Wendy was late once.

KDKA-Radio's powerful nighttime signal makes it possible for their program to be heard in many parts of the United States and in some foreign countries. They've received calls from Carlow, Ireland, and Thailand.

Because it can be heard so far from here, "Party Line" provides the regionalized sounds of Pittsburgh to servicemen away from home.

"When you bring a touch of home to somebody," Ed said, "you are providing some small service. People want company. We try to people a person's room. Do-it-yourself-radio, you might call It," he added, puffing on his pipe.

A feature of the show that has snow-balled in popularity is the "subject of the month" in which listeners are asked to write a letter concerning such things as their most memorable meal or most memorable person.

Usually subjects are not repeated, but they've made "favorite Christmas presents" the annual December topic and "favorite ghost stories" the October regular.

The best letters are chosen for reading on the air. This is one way listeners have of getting through to the Kings, since the two phones are busy constantly. It's a bit of an equalizer for out-of-town callers, too.

Conjuring Up Images

Ed's enthusiasm for reading the stories always is apparent.

"I'm a great believer in the power of radio to draw on the imagination," he said. His annual retelling of the Salem witchcraft story on Halloween may be the most talked about bit of Pittsburgh broadcasting all year.

Sometimes when stories end abruptly, leaving the listener hanging, Wendy is quick to ask what everyone Is thinking: "But what happened?"

Through the years the Kings have used 64 theme songs ("I keep getting tired of them," Ed said) and added dozens of regular callers who Identify themselves by such nicknames as: Baron Figtree, the Witch of Wexford, the Mad Scientist, Pittsburgh Pinkie and the McKeesport Moviegoer.

A husband and wife who identify themselves as Habeas and Corpus have a son who calls himself Writ.

The Kings live in a Cape Cod-style home in the South Hills. "It's a modest, little everyday house with a basement full of old newspapers and an attic full of old letters," Ed said.

The letters, Wendy said, come from the listeners, some of whom are so young they request their mail be used on the air "before 10 o'clock because that's when I have to go to bed."

Losing listeners before midnight isn't half as hard on Ed and Wendy as on those who are anxious to hear the answer to the Pretzel, but have to get up early the next morning.

Being turned off is an occupational hazard for Pittsburgh's Perle Mestas.

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