NJ Radio: WOND's Pinky Kravitz Celebrates 50-Years

Pinky Kravitz

Pinky Kravitz was celebrating 55 years in the broadcasting business, so naturally he was presented with a 55-pound cake — with the likeness of his personalized bobblehead doll drawn in icing.

Kravitz was at the Borgata Casino Hotel and Spa in Atlantic City, NJ last Friday for his special anniversary broadcast on WOND 1400 AM, complete with visits from morning host Don Williams — who credited Kravitz with his own radio career in the first place.

“Blame it all on him,” Williams joked. “Fifty-five years in our line of work is really admirable. All the awards and rewards he received in a highly competitive industry, he did it in a town you know is not an easy place to accomplish your life’s goals.”

Kravitz, who is also a Press of Atlantic City columnist, began his broadcast career on WLDB in 1958, “sitting in front of the Chelsea Hotel with 50 chairs in front of me, a mic and telephone on a table. And nobody called. The thing was, WLDB did not have equipment that would allow people listening on the radio to hear callers. I repeated what people said, and had to fake some calls when no one would call. ... I would argue with myself until someone called me.”

That first year, he interviewed Eleanor Roosevelt, who he had met while in the Army, as well as six-time Socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas, and actress Joan Fontaine.

“I’ve had so many guests I’ve been fortunate to be able to get,” Kravitz said. “Atlantic City had conventions, always had big names. It just worked out pretty well.”

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