Dave Black, former WSUM station manager
Black, right, in 2018, with outgoing music director Izzy Fradin.
My friend and colleague Dave Black passed away this week. He was the guiding force behind UW–Madison's student radio station WSUM. The tributes rolling in on social media and in the local press extol Dave’s humanity, his love of teaching, the tenacity he displayed in making WSUM a reality, and the positive effect he has had on generations of UW-Madison students. It’s all true, and more.
What I haven’t seen yet is a mention of the stubborn curmudgeon he could be. I say this lovingly.
I first met Dave through John Straub, who was a grad student and key player in the early online iteration of WSUM in the late ‘90s. I had worked in commercial radio and had a stint as music director at WORT-FM (89.9). Soon, Dave and I were discussing an idea for a community and student-based morning drive program to replace the automated skronky jazz that served as the early morning programming at that time.
Dave didn’t have the funding to do the wide-spectrum program I envisioned, but he recognized my passion and got me involved. Dave was great at that: recognizing the value in people and creating a place for them to belong.
He got me on board creating a fundraising program for the station. We shared a small office in the pieced-together studios on the second floor of the Towers building on State Street, where the station lived before its current custom digs on campus.
We talked music — Dave loved Cream and Jack Bruce; I grew up on punk and power pop. We talked baseball — Dave: Roberto Clemente; Me: Hank Aaron in a Brewers jersey. We talked family — Dave talked glowingly of his kids’ high school and young adult adventures; my young son ran around during our meetings.
I saw the kind things everyone else saw. But oddly, what I remember most fondly is the gruff demeanor that would come out when he was trying to solve the type of problems that arise when you are dealing with old radio equipment and regulatory bureaucracies. Many days, sitting in that small office, I was very glad to not be the person on the other end of the phone. Dave’s wrath and wit could be biting if you were on the wrong side of it.
From my point of view, it wasn’t just the compassionate and humanitarian side of Dave that helped build WSUM. It was his ability to fight for what he believed in, and do what he had to do to make it happen, even if some feelings got hurt.
Dave and I last spoke in August, right before his retirement became official. He was going to miss the station and the students and the joy of grumbling about things he loved. But he was almost giddy about the time he and his wife, Kari, were going to be spending with the young children in their lives. I mourn for what the WSUM and UW-Madison communities have lost. But that lost time with family, that he was so looking forward to in retirement, is what breaks my heart the most.
Randy Ballwahn was the development coordinator at WSUM from 2004-2007. Since then he has been an on-air volunteer, hosting Freak Scene on Fridays, 6-8 a.m.