Bill sparks
My name is Bill Sparks. I have the privilege of owning Legend Oldies Radio with my wife Jenny. I am from the little town of North Vernon Indiana. Growing up I had a real interest in radios, and what was playing on the radio.
While I attended the Indiana School for the Blind, many of my friends also had an interest in Radio. We of course loved the music of the 60s; Country, Rock, and soul. Our interests went beyond the music. We would listen to distant stations and keep up to date on all of the formats. I graduated from the Indiana school for the Blind in 1972.
Two years later, I graduated from Vincennes University in 1974. I received my B.S Degree in Social work from the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville Indiana in 1976. Shortly after that I began my career with the Social Security Administration. I was there for 30 years. While at Social Security I received computer training. I was able to use those skills to become a training manager to work with the visually impaired.
Before I retired from SSA, I began my first website – BillSparks.org called “Radio Lookup” . Making radio station streams accessible for anyone interested in listening to their favorite station all over the world. I am still actively working on this radio site everyday.
In order to pay for this website, We began another website www.billsparks.com – selling Old Time Radio shows on CD and MP3 downloads. We ran that website for about 11 years before closing in 2016.
In 2005, with the help of Michael Lauf and Doug Hunsinger, we started The Legend. What a Ride that has been! Our first on-air personalitys, Tim Aune and DeeJay Doug Hunsinger, are still with us. We have met, and are still working with some of the most tallented broadcasters. We all are visually impaired. We did not do that by design, it just happened.
In late 2013, I began broadcasting on the Legend myself. What a learning experience that has been. I would not trade that experience for anything. I host four shows each week on the Legend: a Clasic Country show, a Sunday and Monday Oldies show, a Twin Spin show on Tuesday and a One Hit Wonder show.
My other interest in Radio, with some help from my friends, is the All Things Radio Weekly Podcast at AllThingsRadio.net. As of October 2017, we celebrate show number 412. Jeff Bennett has been with us for every broadcast, doing an excellent job editing the podcast and covering weekly radio news. Jenny Sparks does call-letter and format changes. I do a weekly sports radio feature, plus reviews of radios. The All Things Radio site brings it all together.
I also oversee “The Coffee club,” a weekly two-hour live call-in talk show Wednesday mornings from 9 to 11 AM Eastern. along with Jenny, Dave and Chris Reighard, tim Aune, Michael Lauf plus others, we discuss accessible electronics and services, cooking tips and recipes and issues of concern to the blind and low vision community.
I have two adult children, twins James and Rachel. I have been married to Jenny since December 14, 2002. That’s my story!