Bill Seibel and John Roberts

Lunch at the Broadcast Pioneers

On Thursday, January 20, 1999, I had lunch with both John Roberts and Bill Seibel. It was at the monthly Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia luncheon, which was held at Williamson's on City Line Avenue in Bala Cynwyd.

I hadn't seen Bill Seibel in at least 30 years, although I have talked with him on the telephone. Though we were all a few years older, I would have recognized Professor Seibel anywhere. The short, burr hair cut was gone and the color was replaced with gray. He wore a purple shirt and a checkered black and white sports coat with no tie.

We all had the Chicken Maryland. Afterwards, Bill excused himself and told Roberts that if dessert came while he was gone, he could have it.......for a dollar. Professor Roberts kidded that Seibel was so cheap that on the rare events where Seibel opened his wallet, a moth flew out. Bill said, "That's not true." "The moth died a few months ago." You could tell that they enjoyed each other's company after all these years.

Both Professors seemed in good spirits and in reasonably good health. While the body may have aged a little, the mind was still sharp and crystal clear.

Roberts mentioned that sometime during the fifties, he asked his wife to go to a photographer and have her picture taken so that he could have it on his desk. They had her dressed on a strapless drape. If the picture was cropped a little different, it would appear that she had nothing on, even though she did. Months later, he read in the newspaper that the studio was shut down for taking X rated snapshots.

Both gentlemen said that they plan to attend our second annual WRTI reunion on May 30, 1999. Make plans to be there.

This is the WRTI Old Gang Web Site