[Boatanchors] Query about 73 & 88

[Kenneth Grimm]

On Tue, Dec 11, 2012 at 1:55 PM, Al Klase <ark at ar88.net> wrote:

> Richard,
>
> Like you, I never heard the term Elmer until about 20 years ago, and I've
> read a lot of old QST's.  I kinda wish the guy who started this would
> explain himself.
>
> My best guess is that it refers to Elmer E. Bucher , who was American
> Marconi's chief instructor in the Pre-RCA era, and later served a similar
> role under David Sarnoff.  He wrote book like "Practical Wireless
> Telegraphy" and "Wireless Experimenter's Manual" which are classics.
>  Search Google Books for Elmer E. Bucher
>
> Al
>
>
> On 12/11/2012 12:19 PM, Richard Knoppow wrote:
>
>>   ...........  BTW, a puzzle to me is the term "elmer" to mean mentor. I
>> never saw or heard this until about twenty years ago. You will not find it
>> in any old handbook or list of ham radio slang.  I wonder where it
>> originated and who "Elmer" was. ........
>>
>
> --
> Al Klase - N3FRQ
> Jersey City, NJ
> http://www.skywaves.ar88.net/
>
>
>
Interesting that this question comes up now.  This month marked the passing
of Rod Newkirk, W9BRD, who for many years wrote the "How's DX" column in
QST.  Here is a paragraph lifted from his obituary on the ARRL web site:

The term “Elmer” -- meaning someone who provides personal guidance and
assistance to would-be hams -- first appeared in *QST* in Newkirk’s *March
1971 “How’s DX?” column* <http://p1k.arrl.org/pubs_archive/65513>, where he
wrote that “[t]oo frequently one hears a sad story in this little nutshell:
‘Oh, I almost got a ticket, too, but Elmer, W9XYZ, moved away and I kind of
lost interest.’ Sure, the guy could have burned through on his own, maybe,
but he, like others, wound up an almost-ham. No more Elmer. We need those
Elmers. All the Elmers, including the ham who took the most time and
trouble to give *you* a push toward your license, are the birds who keep
this great game young and fresh.” Newkirk was probably not trying to coin a
term at the time, but the name stuck, becoming a general term for the
mentors Newkirk called “the unsung fathers of ham radio.”

73 and RIP to the author of "Elmer" and all the great Jeeves stories and
offerings from the DX Hoggery and Poetry Depreciation Society.

-- 
Ken - K4XL
BoatAnchor Manual Archive
BAMA - http://bama.edebris.com