For Listeners Only

When the New York Herald, Tribune asked Reporter John Crosby to write a radio column, he had two strikes against him: he knew nothing about radio; he did not even own a set. Last week, less than three months after Crosby bought a portable and began an ear-aching routine of constant listening, the Trib decided that his five-a-week columns were too good to keep, signed him for September syndication. Said Managing Editor George Cornish: "He turned out to be a damned sight better than I had any right to expect."

More than good reading, Crosby's column socks radio's weak pitches right out of the lot. Samples:

On give-away shows: "Too many programs of late are built on the questionable theory that philanthropy is an adequate substitute for talent."

On dull public-service programs: "Good intentions are such a novel state of mind in radio that a broadcaster may almost be forgiven for falling into the error of thinking that's all a program needs."

On not listening to the radio: ". . . Of all the things I enjoy not doing, not listening to the radio is my favorite. . . . Some programs are more fun not to listen to than others. For your non-listening pleasure I recommend Stella Dallas, Portia Faces Life and my old friend, Gabriel Heatter."

Crosby, a 34-year-old bachelor, writes his daily piece while sunning himself on the beach at Fire Island, N.Y. He seldom goes to the Trib office, shuns pressagents and radio bigwigs. "I've never gone to a broadcast," he says. "I find that people in radio can be awfully damned convincing.

[My] column is written by a listener for other listeners."

Crosby's brash columns have brought baskets of fan mail, offers from book publishers and four salary boosts in three months. There has been nothing quite like his comments since the dying Ring Lardner wrote in 1933: "Radio, I must admit, is hard to do without when a person is too old to work, too shallow-brained to read much. . , ."'

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.