COMMENTARY
GRACIOUS GROWTH
Back in 1960, as snow covered the
streets in midtown New York City,
I was working as a page for NBC at
Rockefeller Center. Fortunately, my
roommate, who was also a page, and I had
a five-floor walk-up just two blocks from
work. Snowy days meant going half a block
and taking the stairs down at a subway
entrance to walk from 47th Street to 49th
Street, where you could enter Rockefeller
Center from underneath the building.
During the summer of 1960, I decided
to return to college. I had been unsettled
deciding on which path in life to take, so
I took a “gap” to get my goals set. That’s
how I ended up working in New York City,
but then I decided I wanted to go back to
college, and I had selected the University
of Tampa.
As the snow threatened again, I headed
to the airport and boarded a direct flight
from New York City to Tampa. My arrival
there was at a gate along Westshore
Boulevard with steps leading down from
the plane to the tarmac. As I readied to
disembark, I paused at the top of the stairs
to look around and appreciate the view.
Thus began my love affair with the Tampa
Bay area.
I first lived in Tampa in a converted
office building (once occupied by Lykes
Bros. Inc.) that had become a dorm. After
one semester, I moved to the far end of
Davis Islands with four roommates and
then to an apartment closer to the Davis
Islands Bridge. One day I arrived at a local
radio station where I worked (WINQ-AM)
to see a padlock on my workplace, which
had been closed by the sheriff for nonpayment
of rent. However, no one had
called to let me know. Thankfully, by 1963,
I had been hired by a radio station on St.
Pete Beach. WILZ-AM had relocated from
downtown St. Pete Beach to Port ‘O Call on
Tierra Verde. My daily drive from Tampa
to Tierra Verde persuaded me to move to
St. Pete Beach.
Then in 1965, I was hired by WLCY-TV
as their first weatherman. It was there I
met my wife-to-be Penny, and after eight
months of dating, we married. She is from
Seminole, so her roots in the area are deep.
I have been here for a long time and in
140 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
that time, I have seen unexpected changes
throughout the area. I have seen the Tampa
Bay area continue to grow and thrive.
I came here while Webb’s City was
still a major St. Petersburg attraction
and Licata’s and the Old Fort Restaurant
were mainstays in downtown Tampa.
WALT-AM was rockin’ music from Tampa,
while WSUN-AM covered St. Pete. When
I first moved here, you could even find a
parking space at Clearwater Beach.
The transformation has been unreal for
those of us who remember times from
those days in the 1960s. The entire area
has benefited greatly from our professional
sports teams, educational institutions
and of course, the weather. People from
everywhere are discovering why we live
here. Times were simpler back then, but
what is happening here now is exciting. I
love watching Tampa Bay grow bit by bit
into a great metropolitan area. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dick Crippen, a staple
in Tampa Bay broadcasting for more than 40
years, is a retired senior adviser for the Tampa
Bay Rays, where he worked extensively with
the military. He is active in the world of charity
fundraising and sits on numerous boards for
nonprofit organizations.
By Dick Crippen
Dick Crippen