Tag: Walter Windsor

Bill Windsor’s Second Job was as a TV Cameraman and Radio Station DJ

Bill Windsor’s second job was as a cameraman at KLBK-TV in Lubbock, Texas. Then I was a DJ at KLBK-Radio.

I was a cameraman in the television studio.  We filmed commercials and operated the two floor cameras for the news, weather, and sports.

I punched a time clock.  The other crew members and I would try to eat lunch as fast as possible so we could get punched back in.  We would race from the cafeteria to the time clock.  When we got really lucky, we would be logged out for only six minutes.

I got the jobs because my Dad was the General Manager of KLBK.  My Dad was ALWAYS a fabulous supporter of me in everything I ever did.  He was truly special in so very many ways.  My Dad lived to be 89 1/2.

KLBK ad in Monterey High School paper in 1965
KLBK ad in Monterey High School paper in 1965

Before I had a real DJ job, I was the “host” of a one-hour weekly show called “Teen Topics.”

I spoke about what was going on at Monterey High School.  I wasn’t paid.

 

 

 

I had to study and go to Dallas to take a Third-Class Radiotelephone Operator’s License to be able to DJ.  In those days, we did it all — announced, played the 45-rpm-records, and operated “the board.”  There was no engineer to help.  It was great fun.  I had the midnight to 6 am shift, and all the high school and college students “knew” me.  It was a Top 40 radio station.

Billy Windsor Began School 1954

  • Billy Windsor and Tony Windsor with life preservers at the pool in 1954.
    Billy Windsor and Tony Windsor with life preservers at the pool in 1954.

I attended five of my six years of elementary school in Texarkana Texas; that is where Billy Windsor Began School 1954.  I started at age 5 in the first grade at Oaklawn Elementary School, and I turned age 6 after two months.  I did not attend Kindergarten.  I don’t believe we had it back then.

Billy Windsor Report Card 1954-55
Billy Windsor Report Card 1954-55

My parents both had beautiful handwriting, but my hand simply would not cooperate. I tried.   First-grade teacher, Lois Roy, was being kind when she gave me a B+ in Penmanship.  Billy Windsor Began School 1954.

My first memories are from 1954.  We were a family of five.

My Dad, Walter, was quite a presence.  He was 6-feet three-and-a-half inches tall.  That made him a giant back in those days.  My Dad had the best male speaking voice ever, very deep.

My Mom, Mary, was the sweetest and best mother ever to live.

I adored my baby sister, Wendy.

Billy Windsor was still taller than his brother Tony in 1954.
Billy Windsor was still taller than his brother Tony in 1954.

My brother, Tony, and I were inseparable until school separated us.

I remember seeing and loving Pinocchio.

I remember it was a big deal to go to Furr’s Cafeteria on Sundays for dinner.

I walked to and from Oaklawn Elementary School.  Dad was the General Manager of KCMC-TV on the other side of town, and Mom did not have a car or a driver’s license.

My Dad was always a celebrity.  That was cool.  My Mom was always the best.  That was cool.

Billy Windsor does drawing on KCMC-TV in 1954.
Billy Windsor does drawing on KCMC-TV in 1954.

I first appeared on TV in 1954.  I believe this was a drawing for Queen for a Day.

I remember going to a classmate’s birthday party.  They served cupcakes.  I had never seen a cupcake.  It was in a paper “cup.”  I ate it all and then feared I would die from what I realized was paper.  I lived.

One of my least fond memories is that I was too shy to ask permission to use the rest room, and I pooped in my pants and sat in it until I mercifully got to walk home.  I’m sure it had to stink, but no one said anything.  Billy Windsor Began School 1954.

We moved to 4105 Rio Grande Avenue in Texarkana, Texas, and that’s where I attended second grade and received my only report card with Straight A’s.  Thank you, Mrs. Kolb.

Billy Windsor in 1949 – Months 4 to 15

  • Someone holding Billy Windsor in air
    Someone holding Billy Windsor in air

It was a very good year.

Walter Windsor and Mary Windsor were The Best Parents Ever

  • windsor bill 1948 Mary holds smiling Billy in 1948
    Mary Windsor holds smiling Billy in 1948.

My Mom was Mary Windsor, and she was the best mom ever!  She was a stay-at-home mom.

And my Dad was Walter Windsor. He was the best father ever!  Walter Windsor and Mary Windsor were The Best Parents Ever

I was the first-born child.  My brother and two sisters followed.

I was a very lucky boy.  My siblings and I could not have had a better childhood.  My Dad wasn’t paid what he was worth as the manager of television stations while I was a child.  I always thought we were “rich.”  We weren’t, but we had a very comfortable life.

I, William Michael Windsor, was born in Columbus, Georgia.  My Dad and Mom had just driven to Columbus from California with my Mom almost nine months pregnant.  Dad became the General Manager of WGBA Radio in Columbus.

We were living in a motel when Mom went into labor.  Dad didn’t want his son to come home from the hospital to a motel room, so he raced out and rented this home at 2222 Buena Vista Road, Columbus, Georgia.

Walter Windsor and Mary Windsor were The Best Parents Ever.