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SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - In 1948, at 16 years of age, a young Bay Mills member named Bill Thorne had an epiphany. He knew he was supposed to do something special with his life. He also knew he had to make something of himself. It came to him, not after a long talk with a teacher, parent, friend, or anyone else who may have had a vested interest in seeing him succeed in life, but rather, after listening to a comment made by the parent of a girl he had a crush on. According to Thorne, this particularly concerned parent had tried to dissuade her daughter from associating with the likes of an Indian. "Indians," Thorne recalled her saying, "I will never amount to anything."
Wanting to prove his friend's mother wrong and everyone else in town that shared the same sentiments as she did, for that matter, Thorne went down to the WSOO radio station, which was located on Three Mile Road and US-2 at the time, and asked for a job. He was greeted with a resounding, "No."
Thorne would not be deterred, however, and he was relentless in his pursuit to enter the field of broadcasting. For 30 days straight he walked to the radio station and asked them to give him a job. And for 30 days he received the same answer - "No!" According to Thorne, his perseverance paid off for him in the end when the station finally agreed to give him a job on the 4 p.m. until midnight show.
"I decided to go into broadcasting because I wanted to prove certain people in town wrong," Thorne recalled as his primary motivation for entering a career in broadcasting. "I went down to the (radio) station for 30 days in a row. I decided I wasn't going to take 'No' for an answer. Finally, they said, 'You must really want this job' and agreed to put me on (the radio)."
Thorne described his first days on the job as very demanding, adding he averaged barely five hours of sleep a night. In addition to his duties playing music on the 4-midnight show, Thorne also acted as a janitor when the station aired the Detroit Tigers' baseball games. Since he was still in high school, Thorne had to run as fast as he could when school let out at 3:30 p.m. just to make it to work on time. Many years later, Thorne had learned to juggle his work and time so well, that he would actually sign on at a Canadian radio station at 6 a.m., catch the ferry back to the United States at 8:30 p.m., go to work as a Chippewa County Juvenile Officer from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., and then sign on at WSOO at 6 p.m. and work until midnight.
In 1959, Thorne was invited to participate in the "Mr. Deejay USA" competition held in Nashville, Tennessee, which sought to name the country's best deejay. He bested out thousands of his fellow disc jockeys from across the country in the competition, which was sponsored by the Grand Ole' Opry, and was named "Mr. Deejay USA." After winning the prestigious award, Thorne had the opportunity to interview Country Music's biggest stars for a weekend, including the likes of Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash. His first guest on the show was none other than "The King" himself, Elvis Presley. After the show, Elvis invited Thorne to dinner at his favorite steak house, where the two chatted it up for several hours. On a separate occasion, Johnny Cash invited Thorne over to his Nashville house for a "watermelon" party. Thorne attended that party and was even allowed to bring down a busload of friends.
In 1972, Thorne was selected to compete with broadcasters from each state in the union for the chance to interview President Richard Nixon. Nixon, himself, personally selected Thorne from the pool of 50 broadcasters for a one-on-one interview. The experience, he recalled, was one of the greatest he has ever had in his 58 years of broadcasting.
"That was one of the greatest thrills of my life," Thorne recalled. "I was thrilled just to be in the White House. So you can imagine what it was like to interview the President of the United States."
Since he first went on the air in 1948, Thorne has interviewed over 25,000 people. He has interviewed every governor from the state of Michigan since 1958, except for one - John Swainson. One night, as he was broadcasting, Thorne recalled seeing a black Cadillac pull up. A man exited the vehicle and asked Thorne if he would like the opportunity to interview the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Thorne, of course, responded that he would love the opportunity and out stepped Chief Justice Warren Burger. Thorne interviewed him for half an hour.
Thorne's lifelong commitment to broadcasting has made him more than just a household name, but rather the voice of a region. At 74 years of age, Thorne has dedicated his entire life to bringing the news into the homes and cars of mostly everyone in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. Because of that dedication, Representative Gary McDowell recently nominated Thorne for the Michigan Broadcasters Hall of Fame. If elected, Thorne would become not only the first "Yooper" to earn the prestigious honor, but also the first Native American.
"This would be the icing on the cake," Thorne said of the prospect of being elected into the Hall of Fame. "It's the goal of every broadcaster. Given the fact that I'm from the U.P. and am a Native American, it would be extra special, though. It's never been done before. It would bring good publicity to the area."
Thorne said a committee sponsored by the Michigan Broadcasters Association would ultimately decide if he has earned a spot in the Hall of Fame sometime in June. The committee, which only selects one person a year for the award, will take into consideration any letters written by listeners who have enjoyed Thorne's programs throughout the years. Members from the Bay Mills Indian Community are encouraged to write a letter of support for their fellow tribal member, Thorne, but because the decision will be made in a matter of weeks, they need to get them out right away.
Regardless of whether or not he becomes the first Native American to be elected into the Hall of Fame of broadcasting, Thorne said he definitely hopes to see more young Native Americans entering the field. In fact, he said he would even help them find a job. While he has seen a number of different minorities in the field of broadcasting throughout his years, Thorne said he can count on one hand how many of them were Native Americans.
While chatting with the likes of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and President Nixon would definitely give one memories to last a lifetime, Thorne said what happened after a speech he once gave to a group of Upward Bound students at Lake Superior State University was one of his more memorable experiences. Thorne recalled he had just left the building and began walking down the street when he bumped into none other than his childhood friend's mother, the woman who had said those hurtful things about him all those years earlier. Thorne looked at the woman, smiled and said, "Pretty good for an Indian, huh?"
Anyone who wishes to write a letter supporting the nomination of Thorne into the MBA Hall of Fame can drop them off at the radio station or mail them to WSOO, P.O. Box 1230, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., 49783. All letters will be forwarded to the Hall of Fame Headquarters in Lansing.
