To an outsider, the world of ham radio is one of basement transmitters, clunky microphones, Morse code, and crackly, possibly clandestine, worldwide communications, a world both mysterious and geeky. But the real story is a lot more interesting: indeed, there are more than two million operators worldwide, including people like Walter Cronkite and Priscilla Presley. Gandhi had a ham radio, as do Marlon Brando and Juan Carlos, king of Spain. Hello World takes us on a seventy-year odyssey through the world of ham radio. From 1927 until his death in 2001, operator Jerry Powell transmitted radio signals from his bedroom in Hackensack, New Jersey, touring the worlds most remote locations and communicating with people from Greenland to occupied Japan. Once he made contact with a fellow ham operator, he exchanged postcards known as QSLs cards with them. For seven decades, Powell collected hundreds of these cards, documenting his fascinating career in amateur radio and providing a dazzling graphic inventory of people and places far flung. This book is both an introduction to the fascinating world of ham and a visual feast for anyone interested in the universal language of graphic design.
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"A beautifully designed love letter to...the critical but unsung role radio hams have played in service to our country." -- Amy Fusselman, author of The Pharmacist's Mate
"Danny Gregory and Paul Sahre broadcast a life in ham radio in HELLO WORLD." -- Vanity Fair, April 2003
"Excellent! An intriguing story that's finally been told." -- Jim Haynie, W5JBP, ARRL President
"[In the HAM radio world] identifying yourself is mandatory... Now that's an altogether different kind of network protocol." -- Wired, April 2003
About the Author
Danny Gregory lives in New York City.
Paul Sahre is principal of his own design firm. He lives in New York City.
I spent most of my life not believing I had the right to consider myself an artist in any way. But then I started drawing about eight years ago and it changed my life. It led me to travel, to meet people, to get books published, but most of all it transformed the way I see the world around me and how I experience every day.
I believe that everyone has the same opportunity. Not to become a Professional Artist but to make art into a regular part of your everyday life. It doesn't matter what your elementary school art teacher said, or your parents, or your boss. You have it in you to draw, to play an instrument, to write poetry, whatever you choose. You can and should express your self. Regardless of what you fear anyone else may thinks of the results, you can become a creative person and achieve a new view of the life you lead.
I often wonder what the world would be like if every adult was as creative and free as we all were as kids. I think it would be calmer, lovelier, more peaceful place. And I'd like to do something about it.
Three years ago, I started writing about my experience of creativity and sharing it on my website, dannygregory.com. Within a few months, the Everyday Matters group was formed and now over a thousand people get together regularly to encourage each other in drawing and painting and making beautiful things. They chat on the Internet and they get together in cities and towns around the world to collaborate and share.
My new book, The Creative License, was written to help the sorts of people I met in our group. Some are students, some were artists and designers. But most were just people like me who had suddenly decided, when they were well into adulthood, that they wanted to return to making creativity a regular part of their lives. Most of them don't want to make a living painting or have their drawings hung in galleries and museums. They just want to have the pleasure and satisfaction of creating things.
If you would like to incorporate more creativity into your life, check out my new book, visit my site and drop me a line. I'd love to be inspired by you.
Meanwhile, here's some more of my story:
I was born in London, which we left when I was three or four. We moved briefly to Pittsburgh, Pa. then to Canberra, Australia. When I was nine, I went to live with my grandparents in Lahore, Pakistan. Next we went to a kibbutz in Israel then moved to a small town called Kfar Saba. As the Yom Kippur War broke out, we relocated to Brooklyn where I went to a Quaker high school. I was editor of the school paper and organized a Marxist study circle. I graduated from Princeton University, summa cum laude, with a degree in Politics. It was my 21st school.
When I was eleven, I began my first job - assisting the vet at the local slaughterhouse. I've worked in a record store, in one of New York's finest restaurants, and my congressman's office. I was a White House intern (Jimmy Carter lusted for me only in his heart) and a McDonalds' fry cook. I have also worked in a half dozen advertising agencies, and illustrated books, newspapers, and magazines. I am currently Executive Creative Director of a NY ad agency and Contributing Illustrator to The Morning News.
I live in Greenwich Village with myson, Jack Tea, and our miniature longhaired dachshunds, Joe and Tim. If you are in the area, come draw with me and my group.
With the rise of "personal" electronics--think Internet, tiny cell phones & other wireless connection tools--the world of ham radio seems to have been passed by, forgotten, or otherwise relegated to the basement, or worse. But this hobby holds on, fascinating & attracting those wanting more, some means of talking, chatting, meeting & interacting with the world at-large. Who want something besides giant corporations (ultimately concerned only with P&L)& sometime silly can-you-hear-me-now keyboard manipulations. Something beyond the anonymous nature of what we call commercial radio.
Hams, by & large, remain a curious lot--curious about how & why radio works. And curious because how is it possible to sit in your room & talk with someone else halfway around the world, without wires or other connections? Curious about the nature of communication itself, about who might be on "the other end" of that circuit. And curious about who & what they might be & do. The process occurs thousands of times, day & night, spanning everything, from continents to cultures to countries to crazy dreams & ideas. There's a romance to it, listening to signals that are all around us, unseen or felt, until we hook up a radio & detect them. Ham radio lets you put your own message out there, into that vast ethereal space, seeking something only you know about, something only you want.
"Hello World" introduces readers to some of that romance, to some of what kept Jerry Powell (whose collection of QSL cards form the basis of the work) doing it for 70 years. To some of what fascinated him, & continues to fascinate millions of others around the world. It's a graphical treat, & a rare look into radio from the amateur's point of view. Hopefully, some youngster, somewhere, will see it, & want to learn more--about radio, the world, & communicating with it via radio.
And Jerry Powell's legacy will live on...and on....
RUN, don't WALK, to your nearest bookseller, and BUY THIS BOOK! (In fact, I got mine from AMAZON!)
If you're not, it's OK to walk to your bookseller and BUY THIS BOOK!
In truth, I have only begun to read the book -- an effort that will take me "forever" because of the richness of the fabric these guys have woven. It's fun, it's educational, and truly beautiful; in short, it's a work of art! I agree with the reader/reviewer who suggested a "true" coffee table edition in hardback! I'd certainly get in line to buy one....
It's loaded with wonderful touches: the timeline at the bottom of each page that puts the reader in touch with world events while following, chronologically, Jerry's life; the colorful glossary of ham radio jargon/terminology; the wonderful fold-out centerfold map that shows the location of each person whose postcard (QSL) is depicted; and the complete listing of all 369 cards on the back inside cover pages. You can tell a graphic designer played a key role in this project!
With a built-in audience of at least 2.5 million radio amateur aficionados world-wide (how 'bout a Japanese translation for the 1 million + hams in JA-land?!) this book ought to be a hit. Hey, I can think of at least 675,000 coffee tables in America where "Hello World" should be displayed and loved.
Dan and Paul: thanks for creating this...and for joining us in "the greatest hobby on earth that almost no one knows about!" Best 73,
GJ P.S. We've added Jerry and the authors to our Famous Hams web site. All three of these guys are welcome additions!
I was given this fantastic book by my neighbor and friend here in New Jersey, who is a longtime Ham Radio afficionado (and Police Officer by occupation). Truth be told, I have always wondered about Jim's (my mentioned neighbor/friend) hobby/pastime, especially given his tower and antenna systems, which are large and visible and hard to ignore! I did not know much about the hobby, other than 'people talk around the world much like CB'ers talk locally'. I now realize how utterly wonderful, fascinating and riveting this hobby is! Not to mention critical in times of regional or national emergencies! The authors take you on a FASCINATING journey through the ham radio life of an engineer named Jerry Powell, an actual FCC licensed 'Ham' operator from Kansas who moved to New Jersey early on in his career and spent decades on the air from his humble home, communicating with Hams everywhere from all kinds of economic and ideological backrounds. The book is replete with interesting vignettes and descriptions of what Ham Radio is all about, and the true passion and wonderment of engaging in all aspects of this hobby shared by millions around the world. The graphics are first rate, with a veritable 'world tour' of colorful QSL cards, which reflect many of Jerry's contacts with other Ham Operators from every conceivable corner of the world! After reading this book and 'taking in' the wonderful graphics, I even picked up a few entry-level study guides from the ... site (National Amateur Radio organization) on the advice of my neighbor Jim, and I am excitedly planning on obtaining my entry 'Technician' license! I can't wait to get on the air! Just a superb, SUPERB book!!!
