Lorenzo Milam

Lorenzo Wilson Milam, born on August 2, 1933, in Jacksonville, Florida; died on July 19, 2020, in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico, was an American writer and activist who was instrumental in starting many of the first listener-supported community radio stations in the United States, beginning with KRAB in Seattle in 1962.

Early life In 1952, at age 19, he was diagnosed with polio. His sister died of the disease on December 29, 1952, but Milam's case was milder and he was able to walk with crutches after one year. This and the aftermath are described in his autobiographical book "The Cripple Liberation Front Marching Band Blues." He got his start in radio volunteering in 1958–1959 at Lew Hill's KPFA in Berkeley, California. He used a $15,000 inheritance to buy a small FM transmitter in 1959 and spent the next 3 years seeking a broadcasting license "anywhere in the US" from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which assigned him a frequency in Seattle, 107.7FM. With the help of volunteer engineer Jeremy Lansman he was able to get his antique Collins Radio transmitter on the air in 1962, creating the station KRAB.

Milam and Lansman later assisted in the creation of community radio stations around the country, starting in 1968 with KBOO (1968-1971) in Portland; KTAO (1968-1974); KDNA (St. Louis) 1969-72; KPOO (1972-) San Francisco;, KCHU, 1975-77 Dallas; KFAT (1975-1983) Gilroy, California; WORT (Madison, Wisconsin); WRFG 89.3 FM (Atlanta, Georgia); KOPN 89.5 FM (Columbia, Missouri); KZUM 89.3 FM (Lincoln, Nebraska).

The KRAB Nebula, was a tape exchange, using quarter-inch audio tape sent to stations, sharing programs.

According to David Armstrong in A Trumpet to Arms: Alternative Media in America, "Milam's passion for community radio--and 1.1 million from the sale of a second station, KDNA-St.Louis, to commercial broadcasters in 1973--led him to become a veritable Johnny Appleseed of community radio."

Sex and Broadcasting Milam authored the 1971 book Sex and Broadcasting, A Handbook on Starting a Radio Station for the Community.

The "godless" petition In December 1974, Milam and Jeremy Lansman, both radio broadcast consultants in California, sent a petition, RM-2493 to the Federal Communications Commission asking for a freeze on new licenses for educational television and radio channels, and an investigation into religious broadcasters. Although the agency did not consider the petition (on First Amendment grounds), the FCC received over a million letters, about 3,000 per day for many months, protesting the petition, the largest number of letters that the FCC has ever received on an issue.

The Fessenden Review Milam published 13 issues of the print publication The Fessenden Review between 1985 and 1989.

Books and publications (this list is incomplete) Milam, Lorenzo W. Sex and Broadcasting. 1971, Saratoga, CA: Dildo Press 36 pages Milam, Lorenzo W. Sex and Broadcasting. 1972 73 pages Milam, Lorenzo W. The Original Sex and Broadcasting: A Handbook on Starting a Radio Station for the Community. San Diego, CA: Mho & Mho Works, 1988. Milam, Lorenzo W. Sex and Broadcasting. 2017 The Fessenden Review (as Publisher/Editor: 13 issues) Circa 1988-1994 The Lourdes of Arizona (as Carlos A. Amantea), 1989 RALPH: The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy and the Humanities (as Publisher/Editor; 294 online issues), 1994-2019 Gallant, Jonathan A, and Lorenzo W. Milam. Gringolándia: A Guide for Puzzled Mexicans. San Diego, CA: Mho & Mho Works, 1997. Lorenzo Wilson Milam: Life Among The Walkies. San Diego, CA: Mho & Mho Works, 2018.