By Julia Caulfield
Jerry Greene aka Nordic Commando Radio (photo by Axel Koch)
When KOTO came on the air on October 3, 1975, Jerry Greene was there.
Greene, known on the airwaves as Nordic Commando Radio, fully embodied KOTO’s spirit.
Executive Director Cara Pallone notes, “Jerry was fiercely independent. He was authentic. He definitely marched to the beat of his own drum. He kept it real, and the airwaves are just not going to be the same without Nordic Commando.”
Greene passed away on Saturday, May 8th in Grand Junction following complications from health issues. He was 73 years old.
Jerry was born at 11:30 p.m. at Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, New Jersey on June 18, 1947. Making him a Gemini, as he noted on KOTO during “Friday Live: Who is Jerry Greene?” in 1976.
“Gemini is known for being a sign which is heavy into communications industry and things like that. So, I guess I’m in the right place,” Greene said.
After growing up in Newark, Greene went to Cornell University where he got a degree in psychology. He spent much of his time at the college radio station, WVBR, although it wasn’t the smoothest start.
“So I came in and they didn’t like the way I announced anything and they didn’t think I was a good disk jockey, so I just got to hang around and learn how to run the board,” he recalled.
He finally got his break when the DJs went on strike. According to Greene, they wanted a reupholstered chair in the studio.
“The newscasters were on strike too,” he remembered, “so we needed some scabs. While I’m generally in support of unions. This is one time I was a scab. So they gave me this word brief – it’s the instant three and a half news copy that comes from UPI every hour – and I got on, and I read it. Program director says ‘you’re too good to be a scab’. So that was the first time I was allowed to be on the radio.”
After a stint at radio stations in St. Louis, and Denver, Greene made his way to Telluride to create a non-commercial, non-underwritten community radio station.
KOTO News spoke with Greene about those early days of the radio station in honor of its 45th birthday last year.
“I organized an opening day of all live broadcast. I thought we should jump off with a bang,” he recalled, “show that community radio can generate local programming to fill an entire day.”
There has been music since day one. But there’s another KOTO legacy that lives on because of Greene.
“News was to be prominent from day one. Whether there was news or not, every day, sometime in the afternoon – when I had other station duties out of the way – I went to gather news. I’d go to the Sheriff’s Office, ‘nope, nothing happening here’. I’d go to the Town Hall, and see if I could dig something up, but I made sure that there was news every weekday,” he said.
Of course to the community, Greene wasn’t only KOTO. He was a passionate environmentalist, a runner – completing nearly 30 consecutive Imogine Pass Runs, he lobbied congress for immigration reform, and served on Telluride Town Council. He was also the founder, and owner for many years, of Baked in Telluride. On the eve of BIT’s opening, “Friday Live” hosts asked Greene about it.
“Jerry it’s been know, and some of the people around here say that you make some of the finest bread in Telluride,” the host said, “Where did you learn to bake bread, bagels, sweet rolls?”
Greene replied, “Bread is easy to learn if you start out gradually. For consistency, at the bakery, I use recipes, but at home I would advise people to never use a recipe, and always vary the quantities of flour, and you just add a little more flour and kneed it until it feels right.”
Jerry loved to say he was the reason we are all here.
Whether you’re turning the dial to 91.7, eating a bagel in the sun, checking the river report, out for a run, or petitioning Town Council…there are moments you realize, Telluride wouldn’t be here without Jerry Greene.
KOTO will be paying tribute to Nordic Commando during his show on Thursday, May 13th. The public is invited to stop by the station from 6-8 am for donuts & coffee. We will also pass the mic to those who wish to share stories and memories over the airwaves.