Boneyard

In Memoriam

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Marty Balin

1932-2018

Producer / Host

One of the mainstays of the Jefferson Airplane (which he co-founded) and the Jefferson Starship, singer/songwriter Marty Balin was also a solo artist and played with a variety of other groups. He and the original members of the Airplane were inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. When producing the rock opera "Rock Justice" with Bob Heyman, Marty intersected with some Videowest team members. Occasionally, Balin would help out at Videowest in a production capacity where he became friends with cameraman/producer Joe Vertino. Joe eventually became his manager and record producer.

Obituary Wikipedia

Jane Dornacker 1947-1986

Talent

A singer/songwriter, actress, comedian and KSAN radio personality, Jane also led the band Leila and the Snakes. Jane co-hosted the first Videowest show on Channel 26 with Scoop Nisker and appeared in a variety of skits playing Einstein’s wife in the Energy show, a goddess from outer space, the host of the Stranger than Friction TV show spoof, and further titillated the audience with her Deca Dance. She moved to NY where she accepted a job as a TV weather reporter that required her to fly over the city in a helicopter which terrified her, a premonition perhaps. She went down twice. A strong swimmer, she swam to safety the first time, but fell to her death the second.

Wikipedia

Harvey Dubbs

1955-1984

Graphics / Post Production

Harvey was a gentle soul with a tough New Yorker persona who worked for a graphics company and produced all VW’s graphics after hours in the early years, with aspirations of becoming an editor. Worried about being attacked by strangers, he ironically died with his wife Debbie and their baby Sean at the hands of mass murderers Leonard Lake and Charles Ng. Although their bodies have never been found, it is believed that Lake/Ng responded to Harvey’s ad to sell video gear, and that he and his family were abducted and taken to a cabin in Calaveras County where they were tortured and killed.

Bill Etra

1947-2016

Talent / Video Guru

Bill was co-inventor of the Rutt-Etra video synthesizer for which he won many awards. In the early days of Videowest, he was an invaluable guide to what could be done with video technology. He also played the mad scientist in Beach Blanket Armagedon that defined his persona on many Videowest shows. In later years, in NY, he liked to show off his family of pet ferrets. When he first came to Videowest, he was married to Louise Etra, now Ledeen, an active participant in his video explorations, who later helped VW with its acquisition of video equipment and supplies through her position at GESI/Diaquest.

Obituary Wikipedia

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Mike Feeney
1953-2017

Writer / Producer

Mike Feeney was a prolific reporter of the expanding new wave scene and a dear friend of many at Videowest. He had a gentle jokester personality and was known for his dead-on live and video impressions of his fellow Videowesters. It was at Videowest that he met (and later married) his biggest fan, Juanita Diana, and together they split off and formed Video Caroline before migrating to Los Angeles. There he became a movie trailer editor and continued to write screenplays. Mike was also a dedicated researcher and conspiracy theorist. He loved physics, ska music and aliens.

Obituary

See Mike on Videowest

Sasha Ferrer

1940-2006

Writer / Producer / Director

Sasha was a talented writer/producer/director of memorable segments at Videowest, like the scandalous Bob music video. She met her future husband, editor Stephen Goldsmith, at Videowest and they later moved to LA. She worked at the Disney Channel in acquisition and production and later at Warner Bros. She also worked as an executive in the foreign dubbing departments of both studios. As she was struggling with the breast cancer that would take her life, Ferrer wrote and co-produced the 1989 NBC primetime special Destined to Live, about the recovery of 100 breast cancer patients, which won an Emmy nomination and a Humanitas Award. She also wrote In Defense of a Married Man for ABC TV. Stephen scattered her ashes in Paris, her favorite city, at the many places they enjoyed together.

Obituary

See Sasha on Videowest

Art Fryer

1950-2000

Gaffer / Camera / Talent

Art was one of the first volunteers at Videowest where he was affectionately known as “Okey Dokey” because that was how he responded to any job that needed doing or any problem that needed solving. He once flagged down a crane operator at a shoot for Killer Bs and convinced him to let them borrow the crane for an aerial shot. He tried his hand at camera operator and editor, but he excelled as a lighting technician. Art went on to found a successful lighting company with multiple trucks. A kind-hearted spirit, he was always helping others. His memorial service was packed with people from a wide variety of political action groups who all claimed him as their biggest supporter, and were amazed that he was simultaneously playing the same role with many other groups.

See Art on Videowest

Larry Lee

1942-1990

Journalist

Larry distinguished himself as a superlative journalist at radio stations KSAN and KPFA in the ‘70's. He was an advisor at Videowest, helping with editorial and management. He was a television commentator at KQED, then joined the award-winning investigative team at KRON. Larry wrote several books, including biographies of Jack Kerouac and William Saroyan. The first openly gay media personality in San Francisco, he died of AIDS in 1990. In his obituary, he was touted as “a media superstar who fused passion and intellect” and praised for his “brilliance for political insight."

Obituary

Becky Kokyan (Stephenson)
1953-2021

Administration

Bob McClay

1940-1999

Talent / Voiceovers

Bob was a well regarded DJ at KMPX and KSAN radio stations, and a veteran of the golden age of underground radio. A friend of Videowest, he did voice overs and was an occasional actor on comedy skits like the infamous Spaghetti Western, Hang Em Low, where he played a thug cowboy. After his media days, he carved out a living dealing in antiques and estates, and put in some radio time on The Big Band Blend in San Rafael. Bob suffered from several ailments including diabetes and in April 1999, he decided he was tired of all the needles, dialysis machines and medications and quit using them. He died peacefully at home on May 9, officially of complications from diabetes.

Obituary

Dave McQueen
1943-2001

Voiceovers/Talent

Dave “The Voice of God” McQueen came to the Bay Area in the late sixties from Texas to be the news anchor at KSAN during its “Jive 95” days. He spent 15 years at KSAN, some 10 years at the Big 610, KFRC, and retired from KCBS after a dozen or so years as overnight anchor. In his spare time he became the voice of Videowest and acted in at least one fake commercial. In recent years he lived quietly with his partner Mary in Berkeley where he read books and took frequent naps. He ate shoots and leaves. He continued to putter down the highway to Kettleman City, forgotten turn signal flashing all the way.

Obituary

Tawn Mastery

1954-2007

Producer / Talent / Voiceovers

Tawn hosted some of Videowest’s stringer reports for MTV when the channel first launched. She formed LIPS (Ladies In Production Services) where she produced music videos for Greg Kihn and Romeo Void. She became a well-regarded heavy-metal disc jockey in Los Angeles in the late 1980s at KNAC when the radio station was the official outlet for the then-thriving metal scene. She worked at stations in LA, San Jose, Portland, and in Minneapolis, her hometown. Tawn was the midday DJ on Hair Nation (part of the Sirius radio lineup), heard nationally on Westwood One Entertainment’s Absolutely Live High Voltage, and was the featured host for the Metal Head Video Magazine TV series. She made a cameo appearance as herself in The Blues Brothers movie. Tawn died in 2007 in Minneapolis from the effects of hepatitis C, a disease she contracted as a child.

Obituary Wikipedia

Milan Melvin

1942-2001

Advisor

KSAN alumni and Videowest advisor, Milan Melvin was a globetrotting adventurer whose home base was a houseboat in Sausalito for many years. He wound up in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where he started a fun, productive community, living there until he passed away in 2001. In keeping with his ebullient personality, Milan wrote a letter to his friends before checking out, which ended, "In closing, let me ask that you think of me as having a First Class seat on the nonstop Bullet Train to the greatest Mystery and the grandest Adventure of all. YEE-HA! YEE-HA! And love, Milan.” He had been writing a book called Highlights of a Lowlife which was published posthumously in a limited edition.

Obituary IMDB

Sir Joe Ohliger III 1951-2008

Writer / Producer / Director / Talent

Joe O, as he was affectionately known, was one of the most prolific contributors at Videowest, writing and directing over a dozen comedy sketches and music videos, while also turning in stellar performances as an actor in his own productions and in others. He was proudest of the dozens of interviews he produced of his heroes including John Cale, Jerry Jeff Walker and Captain Sensible. Joe hated hippies and loved punks, was an emphatic fan of the Kinks, organized regular expeditions to Lena’s Diner for red beans and ham hocks, and slept in a vault at the VW offices that had been turned into a voice-over recording studio, claiming he was "cheaper than a watchdog." In his spare time Joe produced and hosted the Joe O Show on KUSF and volunteered as a cameraman for the Catholic Church. He died of cancer in 2008. Some of Joe’s productions and performances include Casting Couch, Church of the Holy Microchip, Ulmers Glue, Mr. Wine, Dial-a-Date, Beautiful Children, and Slumberg Wine; and music videos Calling Dr. Howard and Guns of Revolution by Red Rockers. Watch this video interview of Joe, recorded a few months before his death.

Obituary

Wes Scoop Nisker
1942-2023

Talent/Writer

Scoop “News You Can Dance To” Nisker, was the “Man on the Street” at VW. Now recognized as a Buddhist meditation teacher, author and performer, Wes worked in radio for nearly 40 years winning several top awards for excellence in FM radio programming, and was recently inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame. In recent years, Wes sometimes answered the radio muse’s call with a rant or commentary for the Pacifica radio network called “The Occasional Scoop.” He is the author of The Big Bang, The Buddha and the Baby Boom, Buddha’s Nature, and Crazy Wisdom Saves the World Again! and the founder and co-editor of “Inquiring Mind,” an international Buddhist journal. Wes studied Buddhist meditation for over three decades and for the past 15 years lead his own retreats and workshops in meditation and philosophy. He was a senior teacher at the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, Ca.

Obituary. Wikipedia Scoop's Website

Willie Boy Walker 1945-2019