Hey Kemosabe by Chris Ingram

Dan Ingram at the WABC Cruise June 2007

There was talk on the various radio message boards that Chris Ingram, son of legendary Dan Ingram would publish a book about his father and Musicradio WABC.  I just purchased his book titled Hey Kemosabe from Amazon.com and read it last night and today.  I enjoyed reading it as it reminded me the radio career of Dan whom I met at the WABC cruise in June 2007.  To be completely honest I must report some very serious flaws.

The author states “This is not a biography nor is it a history book.  Many of the events contained on the following pages are recreations of actual events, drawn from the memories of the people who lived though them.  Others are fictions in which actual people are placed in imaginary situations during real historical events.”

This is the serious weakness of the book  The reader does not know whether an event is fact or fiction or whether an actual event is exaggerated.  The “brief showers” event with Dan and Cousin Brucie is accurately reported.  Also the events of the big NYC blackout November 9, 1965 is reported in detail as Dan traveled to the WABC transmitter in Lodi, NJ to continue his show.  There is a blatant inaccuracy when it is said that Martin Luther King was murdered in Montgomery, Alabama when everyone knows the tragedy occurred in Memphis.  I think the lack of chronological order of the events depicted  was  a great drawback of this book.

A story was related where Oswaldo Santiago was in a coma eleven days after being a victim of a mugging.  He seemed to show signs of improvement when listening to Dan Ingram on WABC.  After Dan mentioned his name on the air, the boy woke up.  Is this story fact or fiction?

I think the book should have included some photographs of Dan Ingram and the other WABC radio personalities of the music radio era.  The book ends with May 10, 1982, the “Day the Music Died” on WABC.  I think Chris should have included a chapter on his Dad’s post WABC career on WCBS-FM.  He did a popular weekend show on WCBS-FM from 1991-2003.

I realize that as I am posting this on my blog, anybody can read it including the author.  I am writing this to provide constructive criticism not to bash the book.