Will Pendarvis profile picture

Will Pendarvis

Radio Broadcaster (1910-1962)

About Me

Will Pendarvis (1910-1962) is famous in commercial radio circles as the announcer whose unique foresight has allowed him to continue to broadcast despite his death over 40 years ago. Pendarvis was connected to the literal beginnings of the sound era, as the final assistant to Thomas Edison at the time of Edison's death in 1931. It was, perhaps, his connection with Edison that inspired Pendarvis to create the broadcasting innovations through which his voice remarkably lives on. Best known as the voice of Moxy Mole ("the mole with moxy!") in a series of Navy recruitment film strips, Pendarvis made his final mark by recording every human vowel and consonant sound on separate pieces of magnetic tape for use after his death, a massive project which obsessed him during the final 12 years of his life - and the strain of which caused his early death. He also designed one of the world's first punch card computer programs with the aim of combining these vowels and consonants into a literally endless variety of meaningful patterns. Although the program was a failure, Pendarvis' voice lives on in a digital version of his original intention, completed just three years ago by a team of undergraduate science and communications majors from UCLA working under a federal grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Often heard to announce, "I will live on beyond the grave!" to the amusement and confusion of his original radio audience, it seems that Pendarvis' wish has come true.JP August, 2001

My Interests

Broadcasting, Electronics, travel, Physics, theology, philosophy, producing, directing, walking my landlord's dog, twizzlers, anything from the 1940's, the Vietnam war... lots of random stuff...

I'd like to meet:

Jeff Lynne... he's the only one I haven't been able to cross off the list!

Music:

System of a Down Metallica (before the Black Album) Opera (generally speaking) Big Band (1940's only) The Cramps Sex Pistols Electric Light Orchestra Jeff Lynne Pink Floyd Agent Orange Spleen United Talking Heads Elvis Costello ...way too many to mention.

Movies:

Brazil, Raising Arizona, 12 Monkeys... really anything by the Cohen brothers or Terry Gilliam...

Television:

I gave up on watching the news about 2 years ago. From there it was EXTREMELY easy to give up ALL television.If I happen to see it, I like Family Guy... or if a good race is on, I'll watch that...

Books:

"The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure" by Jack Pendarvis... "Your Body is Changing" by Jack Pendarvis...... and my brother's NEW BOOK coming out this year: "Awesome".

Heroes:

Firefighters... and the GOOD cops.

My Blog

OUTSIDE MAGAZINE

If you missed the Article in Outside Magazine... you can now check it out online! PENDARVIS OUTSIDE ARTICLE...
Posted by Will Pendarvis on Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:52:00 PST