Simi Valley, CA 2011: As the seven-President Air Force One seems raring to go despite retirement, Trent Ling shares of a time when he was finally let loose with a microphone and some airwaves.
Trent Ling managed to get onto the radio at age 14 by calling various hosts and deejays. By 15, he was putting together demo tapes and interviewing for broadcasting positions. On January 3, 1981, within a month of turning 16, Trent finally got the call to fill-in at a moment’s notice. Yikes!
“Frank Murray really stuck his neck out for me,” Trent recalls. “He gave me a shot when it would have been wiser to take a pass and play it safe. I’ll be forever grateful to him for that.”
A few hours after getting the on-air assignment, Trent competed in his own High School Sophomore basketball game in the early evening, tried to get his head together, hitched a ride with his dad across town, and then overtook the live broadcast of the Kamiakin-Davis varsity basketball game (two teams with which he was unfamiliar). It was a whirlwind.
“Painful,” is how Trent now describes hearing back the 31-year-old broadcast. “With an irritatingly unsettled voice and the perspective of a grasshopper, it’s hard to imagine what I was thinking. In any case, I guess it all had to start somehow.”
The two-minute, forty-nine-second clip below provides a taste of the adventure. Perhaps painful, but a necessary preamble nonetheless.
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Radio: Trent’s Broadcasting Debut at Age 16 (January 3, 1981; 2:49)
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That was wonderful!! I agree with Mila, how does your brain and your mouth manage to stay in sync I’ll never understand. 30+ years later you’re still yapping for all to hear but you’re definitely much more in step with something greater than a basketball game. BTW, I was only 7-years old when this debut occurred in 1981. The Reagan years began then…
“Gifted” is how I describe it, Om Trent–not painful! And amen for you being faithful with the gift God’s given you. I’m just amazed at how fast your mind can think and synchronize it with your speech–I mean, broadcasting is live, no cut and retake! Amen! To me it’s just amazing, perhaps to some pro out there it’s something they could do as well, but the question is whether you use the talent for God or not… Love you!
Ya, why did you stop? I was getting into the game, like Mel!
Thanks for taking us to the game, that was fun!!
I’m so glad Frank knew what he was doing. You certainly make it sound like he did. Amen for a wonderful beginning!
Hey T, that wasn’t painful at all, I really enjoyed it! I almost felt like I was there! I am very impressed with the sharpness and clarity you had at such a young age.
That is amazing! I agree with Meme, you sure sounded like a professional broadcaster at that age. Why did you stop the broadcast there?! I was getting into the game :)!
Love you,
Mel
I know that voice and it sounds like a professional to me. What exciting days they were! I feel blessed to have lived them with such a determined teenager. As his parents, we just hung on tight for the ride…whee!