THANK YOU FOR 22 YEARS ON THE RADIO AND COUNTING ...

Frank and Virginia (Ginny Lee) Napurano (Nap), founders of WDVR-FM, a non-commercial community radio station operated by a volunteer staff, came on the air in 1990. Seven years later, a new weekly show hit the airwaves. It was all about work. After being a guest on Ginny’s show Horizons, the man behind the mic of the new show was my husband. Using his middle name Shep, the show became known as The World of Work with Shep Cohen.

It wasn’t without lots of thought and then lengthy discussions on a business/pleasure trip to Puerto Rico, that Shep, as he is known in some circles and now widely from his radio show, decided to follow a childhood dream and become the voice behind the mic. While working full-time at his law practice, he thought it would be daunting to find the time to commit to a weekly show. When he replied to Ginny Lee that he was interested in doing a show a few times a year, she explained that he would have a listening audience and would need to be there for them every week when they tuned in the dial.

After further consideration, and lots more discussion, Shep decided that since no one was paid on the all-volunteer station—he nor the guests—he would take the chance, and if it didn’t work out, he could bow out. That was over 1000 shows ago and counting.

In preparation for each show, Shep reads what the guests have to offer, and compiles pages of questions, just in case there is a lull in the conversation. Friday afternoons, he takes a one hour drive from his law office in Newark, New Jersey, to Sergeantsville, in Hunterdon County, where he entertains listeners with a full hour of non-commercial talk about a variety of walks of life.

One of his early guests was Jim Lehrer, of National TV fame, who suggested that a good interviewer asks short and probing questions, allowing the person being interviewed to be the star of the show. Shep took that advice to heart. He considers most of his guests as people who are the salt of the earth, working their way through life, but there is a sprinkling of appearances by men and women from all walks of life.

Rarely scheduling a repeat guest, aside from me to offer my yearly genealogy updates, Shep has interviewed a wide variety of guests, such as a plumber, an electrician, a rabbi, a priest, various musicians, editors, doctors, and even an astronaut. Additionally, he has done an occasional interview with Holocaust survivors and other special interest groups.

Movie stars up to Academy Award winners, sports stars, and television personalities have appeared occasionally on The World of Work. Recently, in a magnificent interview, after meeting him at the Space Station in Houston, Shep had a NASA astronaut as his guest.

Frank Napurano, fondly known as Frank Nap, created his dream with his wife Ginny Lee at his side. Thanks, Ginny Lee, for spotting a perfect host for another talk show and to the Napuranos for giving Shep an hour a week of total freedom on the airwaves.

Tune in Fridays at 4:00 PM EDT to hear Shep on The World of Work. Barring a personal or business commitment, which keeps him from his favorite time of the week, he can be heard most Fridays throughout the year anywhere around the world. The World Of Work can be found streaming live on www.wdvrfm.org. Within the listening range, tune in at 89.7 FM on your radio dial in Delaware Township, or at stations 96.9 in Lawrenceville, Princeton, Trenton area and points south, and 90.5 in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Recorded shows are currently being cataloged for placement on the web, where an easy click will allow anyone to hear archived broadcasts. Interested in your 15 minutes of fame? Contact Shep at 609-397-1620 to schedule an interview.

Shep on the air - WDVR-FM Fridays at 4:00 PM EDT The first show of The World of Work with Shep Cohen aired on July 11, 1997