Cordic eager to join festivities
By Sylvia Sachs, the Pittsburgh Press, Nov. 21, 1985

IT'S A SUNNY day in Southern California and from his hillside home former Pittsburgh radio personality Rege Cordic can see the big "Hollywood" sign on another hill four or five miles to the west.

He's staring out the window at the sign as -be reminisces about Pittsburgh and looks forward to his visit here this weekend to be part of the "Celebrate Pittsburgh" activities. Cordic's a confirmed Californian after living out there the past 20 years, but that familiar deep voice is tinged with affection as he talks about the old hometown.

"In many ways I miss Pittsburgh... my roots are there... it's my home... it's where I grew up, and I have fond memories of home.

"But I like the California lifestyle. I was here in the Navy and I decided then that I liked It. I'm not a well-known personality In LA like I was in Pittsburgh. I do a lot of radio announcing and voice-over TV. It's an anonymous profession. Every once in a while someone overhears me talking in a restaurant and recognizes my voice, but, no, I don't travel in the fast lane.

"This is a different kind of a city than Pittsburgh; it's so spread out. We announcers sort of function in a little world of our own. I'm kind of anonymous, but it's a pleasant kind of anonymity. I rather enjoy it."

Cordic has never completely severed his ties with Pittsburgh, which were highlighted by his popular morning radio show on KDKA-Radio. He and associates Bob Trow and Karl Hardman created such zany characters as Carmen Monoxide, Louie, Omicron and Roquefort Q. LaFarge.

Over the years, Cordic has been a host on a film series on WTAE-TV and he has recently done radio promotions for WTAE-Radio. He's been back on visits several times, the last one two years ago when he was a delegate to the national AFTRA convention here.

"That trip to Pittsburgh was a real thrill," says Cordic. "I flew there with a bunch of my friends from the soap operas. They had no idea what Pittsburgh was like - they'd always heard it was a dirty, smoky city. But that entrance to Downtown from the tunnel was just a thrill to all of them. I have never heard so many compliments for how beautiful the city was and how friendly the people were. That friendliness of Pittsburghers is very special.

"I have a funny little ritual when I come back there. I'm a product of the old dark and gloomy Pittsburgh, and I like to walk around Downtown to see the places I remember. Of course, it's all so changed. I remember when the area around The Press was all old warehouses and railroad yards. I do think the changes there are terrific, though. I want to ride the subway ... and I was thrilled about the city saving the Pirates."

Really getting into the nostalgia, Cordic remembers when he was a teenager and worked for a print shop in Squirrel Hill. His boss used to send him Downtown to pick up linotype slugs for the shop.

"Those slugs were made of lead and they weighed a lot. I remember having to carry them and breaking my back to get them on a street car. And I remember spending a lot of time at the P&LE Railroad Station. My father was very involved with the railroad. He always told stories about bringing Harry Truman to Pittsburgh on his train. My father turned me into a kind of railroad freak."

That interest persists even in the hills of Hollywood. Cordic's booming laugh comes over the phone lines as he talks about his leisure time activity in Tinsel Town. No, it's not partying with the showbiz set. He spends his free time building "a scale model of West Virginia" that has almost filled what was once his two-car garage. Besides buying and and redoing model trains, he has built scenery and buildings that are reminders of the way the countryside used to look when be was a. youngster traveling on the train with his father.

Recently, Cordic wrote an article about his father and the old railroad days and sold It to a magazine called "Trains." The article appears in the December issue.

As for his career, Cordic is constantly busy with his announcing jobs. He does a great deal of work for the networks, recording announcements in LA that go by satellite to New York and then across the country. He did all the "Death of a Salesman" announcements before and during the show among other prestigious assignments As his announcing reputation grew, Cordic gave up the TV work be had been doing. The TV jobs, mostly small roles, would take two or three days and would interfere with his ability to accept radio assignments. To build a steady clientele for radio, an announcer has to be available when called, Cordic says, and he decided radio was the best place for him.

 ---------------------