Daily Sitka Sentinel

Fates Turn New Leaf After Radio Careers

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Ken Fate isn’t joking when he says, “It’s fate that I’m here.”
    If Rich McClear had been the public radio station manager in, say, Chattanooga, Tenn., in 1990, Fate says that is where he would have landed.
    Instead, McClear was at KCAW in Sitka, and that’s all Fate needed to know.

Rachel and Ken Fate and their dog Olivia at a going-away party. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

    “Because that’s where the best community radio would be,” Fate said. “He epitomized what I believed would be the best experience of my life.”
    Next week Ken will be stepping down from his 27-year career at KCAW, where he and his wife Rachel have been co-general managers the past two years.
    For Ken, it’s the end – or at least a breathing spell – after his more than two decades on the staff of the public radio station.
    Rachel’s time sharing the helm has been a few years less, but her time alongside Ken has given her a front-row seat to the ups and downs of community radio since the two met 23 years ago.
    Raven Radio marked their retirement with a party Tuesday at the station, attended by staff, board members, volunteers and listeners. The two said they are grateful for the Raven community.
    “It’s a good opportunity to say thank you to everybody – staff, volunteers, the board – for giving us this chance to help us realize our dream of working at the best radio station in the world,” Ken said.
    Ken came to Sitka in 1990 to take the job of chief announcer, a position that no longer exists at the station. But he really came here because Rich McClear was here.
    Ken started his life in radio at the University of Idaho in the 1980s, co-hosting programs – including one called “Sacred Cows” – later becoming manager of the college station as a part-time student.
    During his time there he not only became fascinated by the concept of radio as “theater of the mind,” but with the idea of community radio.
    “People connected with each other through that station,” Ken said. “The power of community radio really spearheaded my passion in what I wanted to do with my life.”
    Spurred by his interest in broadcasting, Ken subscribed to the newsletter of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters, where he read about Rich McClear.
    “His ideology of community radio and community access philosophies – he became in my mind the Johnny Appleseed of community radio,” Ken said.
    Community radio hadn’t been around long at that time, compared to commercial options.
    Seeing that NFCB planned to hold its annual meeting in Berkeley, Calif., Ken got into his VW van and headed there, determined to meet McClear. The two did meet, and from that moment, Ken made up his mind that he would work with McClear.
    That opportunity came in 1990 when he saw the ad in NFCB for the chief announcer post in Sitka, where McClear was station manager of Raven Radio. He came here and was interviewed, and also attended a farewell party for longtime volunteer Burt Augst. At that party, he spent some time talking with another volunteer, Ron Krueger. Krueger gave McClear a ringing endorsement for “the kid from Idaho.”
    Ken was hired, and through 2003 he held several jobs at Raven, including Morning Edition host and program director.
    He and Rachel moved to Montana, but Ken continued working for Raven as a producer for Richard Nelson’s radio series “Encounters.” The two returned after six months, and Ken has been serving as general manager from 2004 until now.
    He is the fourth general manager at the station, and with 13 years under his belt he holds the record for tenure.
    “I stayed because Raven Radio was and still is one of the best radio stations in the world,” he said. “It’s been an honor. I can’t believe how fortunate I’ve been to be involved with Raven Radio. It’s worthy of a lifetime of service.”
    Over the past 27 years, Ken has trained several hundred volunteers, and sat alongside them as they took their “first flight” – the first time hosting a show.
    “It’s so intimidating for so many people to consider doing,” Ken said. “The audience, their own voice, all the buttons, and yet people do it. I’ve been there for people confronting those fears.”
    He’s seen community radio in Sitka not only empower and change people – and open up opportunities for them personally and professionally – but he’s seen how providing access to the resource changes the town.
    “It makes for a better democracy, better access to culture,” he said.
    Ken said it’s been gratifying over the years to see the way Sitka values the service, and the opportunities available.
    The station has weathered challenges over the years, including funding cuts and threatened cuts from state and federal sources, but he said the community has come out in force to offer support with their voices, and pocketbooks.
    “It’s so rewarding to see the community individually and as a whole support this treasure, because they felt if we lose it it’s going to be tragic,” he said.
    Among the achievements from the past decade was the successful fundraising effort to repair the 100-year-old historic Cable House, the home of Raven Radio. Ken wrote a series of Denali Commission grants that helped push the work forward.
    “Seventeen leaks in the roof, windows that were leaking from all sides,” Ken said. The work took seven years and involved about 20 local contractors.
    The result is a renovated historic building, with a performance space and accessible air and production room, Studio Xeno, and rental space for a restaurant.
    “Ultimately getting that – the Cable House – to be a tool to help continue the tradition of community radio is something I feel really proud of,” he said.
    Although he has no regrets about his time there, he is also looking forward to getting a break from the 24-7 schedule of his last 27 years at the station. Rachel has shared that responsibility for the last two.
    As to their future, they plan to stay in Sitka. Ken has taken a job at the Legislative Information Office, and Rachel will devote more time to her art and other projects.
    Although the retirement party was held at the station Tuesday, he and Rachel are planning an on-air party this fall, featuring archival radio from past shows they’ve hosted or worked on. That will include the show when Ken surprised Rachel by proposing to her during a live radio program in 1996. The two have also co-hosted a number of programs, including “Deserted Island,” and created radio theater plays.