|
The Voice on the L.A. Steel Show
 | | John Palinkas sets up one of the cameras. |
|
By L.A. Steele
I am honored that I was invited to submit this article to The Voice, even though in the left-handed fashion of fame I only had three days to complete it. I thought about submitting my unpublished autobiography, but it was emphasized that The Voice did not as a rule publish fiction. So I resorted to writing this brief, non-fiction article to embellish David Zukerman’s photos. I must ask the reader’s forgiveness for any uncensored enthusiasm that may find its way into this outpouring of appreciation and encouragement for The Voice staff and all of its contributors.
In this article I will attempt to inspire you to write for The Voice. To begin, I would like to quote one of my favorite authors from an essay that has inspired me for many years and has inspired countless men and women for nearly two centuries:
"O believe, as thou livest, that every sound that is spoken over the round world, which thou aughtest to hear, will vibrate on thine ears. Every proverb, every book, every by-word that belongs to thee for aid or comfort shall surely come home through open or winding passages." —Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Over Soul"
 | | (L-R) Gary Pontelandolfo, L.A. Steel and Jedd Gould on the set before taping began. Photos/David Zukerman |
|
There is one more quote from the same essay that is relevant to this article: "It makes no difference whether the appeal is to a number or to one."
Now that I have enlightened you to the spirit of this article, you may be inclined to read on.
Recently I asked the publisher of The Voice, Jedd Gould, Voice editor Gary Pontelandolfo, and David Zukerman, a contributing writer and photographer for the paper, if they would appear on my television program, the L.A. Steel Show. They enthusiastically agreed. The show turned out very well, and all four of us managed to present ourselves within the acceptable boundaries of F.C.C. regulations governing content and obscenity. I wish to thank my friend John Palinkas, the manager of the Winsted access studio of Charter Community Vision Channel 13, for his excellent camera work. I also wish to thank Dave King, his assistant manager, who has recently been transferred to the Newtown Charter office; he will be missed.
John Palinkas is a perfectionist who won’t admit that he is (which annoys people like myself, who aren’t perfectionists and will admit it). John takes great care in the development of each program he is involved with. I consider him to be one of the best access managers in Connecticut. The people of the Winsted area should consider themselves fortunate to have John serving their community.
I want to thank David Zukerman for bringing his camera to the Winsted studio that afternoon, and I commend him for all of his fine articles and photographs that he has shared with Voice readers over the years. There have been so many writers who have graced the pages of The Voice. Eloquent and articulate men and women from all walks of life, who have taken advantage of the great opportunity that this paper provides to share their thoughts and concerns, to inform and entertain. Some of these writers are outstanding, others are uniquely expressive, and others are fair—but thanks to the professionalism of Voice editor Gary Pontelandolfo, even my writing can get cleaned up enough to be printed.
I cannot give enough credit to Jedd and Gary and their entire staff for their vision and determination to publish The Voice each week. I wish to thank all of their advertisers who make it possible for The Voice to continue to be a free paper that is widely available to the public. Many of my friends and acquaintances contribute their articles to The Voice—such notables as Tom Sevigny, Charley Keil, Tom Ethier, Judi Friedman, Elmer Erickson, David Zukerman, Audrey Cole, Roberta Willis, Ned Coll and Ralph Nader.
By the way, I am glad that Ned Coll is running for Governor. He is a great man with a great vision for Connecticut and I wish him well. I am currently producing a two-part program with Ned that will be airing around the state in the last two weeks of March, and perhaps several more times before the election.
In December I was granted the opportunity through Tom Sevigny, national and state co-chairman of the Green Party, to interview Ralph Nader and to record his speech, given at a Green Party fundraiser at "The Bar" in New Haven. I expressed to Ralph that many of his supporters looked forward to reading his articles in The Voice, and that The Voice was the only way I knew of for his Connecticut supporters to hear from him. I strongly encouraged him to keep sending his articles in weekly.
The continual contributions of Ralph Nader to The Voice give great credibility to its newsprint pages. As a contributing writer, I consider it an honor to have my work appear in this fine publication.
It is only the insanely arrogant who discredit the voices of the people. Most magazines, newspapers and broadcast companies are owned by a handful of powerful moguls who consider their audiences as herds of sheep to be sheered by inane articles on fad diets and fashion trends, then to be slaughtered by cynical national and local news anchormen and women who read watered-down sound bites from their monitors, and who are more concerned with their hair and makeup than the content of the sensational hype they call news. These slick, high-powered, mega-dollar corporations continue to produce the acrid swill that we as readers and television viewers must accept as food for thought.
I praise The Voice as the lone voice in the forest, calling clearly to all who have a desire to hear the true collective voices of concerned citizens. The Voice prints the words of real people with real concerns and interests, and in so doing has developed a loyal and expanding readership. There is a recognizable honesty and integrity to The Voice, displayed by its attractive layout and interesting articles written by genuine people who express their concerns and debate relevant issues facing the state, the country and the world. The Voice has and will continue to stand out amongst other newspapers, and I hope that one day it may be read in every town in Connecticut.
I must speak briefly about another remarkable resource for true voices to be heard, which is your local community access television station. I have been an access producer for four years with a weekly series that is now seen on ten stations around the state. Because of this great resource of community access television, available to all cable-serviced communities, I am able to reach a large, immediate television audience. Approximately 300,000 viewers in Connecticut see the L.A. Steel Show each week. I am greatly encouraged that many of my viewers will now have the opportunity to hear of The Voice for the first time. I feel gratified that my efforts may encourage someone I have never met to write for The Voice. I also feel gratified to know that Ralph Nader’s speech, which he made to one hundred people in New Haven, has been enjoyed by three hundred thousand people around the state because I was able to broadcast it on access television.
I have created over 200 programs; many have been co-produced and co-hosted by Leila Wood. Separately and together we have interviewed many people and have covered numerous political, environmental, artistic, entertaining and informative issues from around the entire state of Connecticut. We have enjoyed what we are doing tremendously. I urge all who have an interest in producing their own series or special in the Winsted area to call John Palinkas at 860-738-5090, ext 230; in other areas, check your phone book for the names and addresses of your local community access station.
If you would like to contact me regarding my program, if you have a talent or book or cause to promote, or if you would like to see the L.A. Steel Show in your area, please write to The L.A. Steel Show, PO Box 127, Salisbury, CT 06068; or send an e-mail message to <lasteeltv@yahoo.com>.
Currently the L.A. Steel Show is seen in the Winsted area on Charter community channel 13 on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. and Thursdays at 10 a.m.; in Waterbury on Skye Cable channel 13 on Mondays at 9:30 p.m.; in the Litchfield area on Laurel Cable Vision channel 5 on Sundays at noon; in Cheshire, Meriden and Southington on Cox Cable channel 15 on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; in New Haven on Citizens Community Television channel 23 on Sundays at 11 p.m. and Mondays at 5 p.m.; in New London on Eastern Cable channel 22 on Thursdays at 8 p.m.; in Norwich on channel 5 on Saturdays at 6 p.m.; and in Ansonia on Telemedia channel 10 on Mondays at 10 p.m.
I strongly urge all who are reading this article and have never written to The Voice to do so. I look forward to reading your article.
| 
)
)