The death of President Reagan has been a personal loss for many across the state. Iowa became Reagan’s home in the fall of 1932, when hope of a broadcasting career brought the 21-year-old Eureka College (Illinois) graduate to W-O-C radio in Davenport, and later, to W-H-O in Des Moines. Reagan endeared himself to listeners as he reenacted Western Union dispatches of Chicago baseball games. As a boy of seven or so, Charles Knudtson of Joice, now 85, says he loved Reagan’s play-by-play.Professor Jeff Stein of Wartburg College in Waverly says Reagan’s improvisation was legendary, but not unique for the radio industry. Stein says that had been done into the 1960’s.Stein is the author of “Making Waves, The People and Places of Iowa Broadcasting.” Reagan described his time in Iowa as the “most pleasant” time in his life. He said, “ At 22, I’d achieved my dream; I was a sports announcer. If I had stopped there, I believe I would have been happy the rest of my life.”
