By Donna Halper

Today’s radio talk show hosts tend to be angry and confrontational. But in the 1960s and 70s, one of radio’s most popular talkers was known for being polite, warm, and courteous. His name was Herb Jepko and, while he became famous for his "Nitecaps" program from Salt Lake City, he spent his formative years in Prescott.

Herb was born in 1931 as William Parke, given up for adoption, adopted by Metro and Nellie Jepko of 340 North Pleasant Street in Prescott and, according to the 1930 Census, given the name Herbert Earl Jepko.

His adoptive father, Metro, born in 1894, was originally from the coal mining region of Pennsylvania and, like many in that area, he worked in the mines. During the First World War, he served his country in the army, and was wounded in Europe. Although he recovered and returned to the States, he would periodically experience complications from those wounds, which led his doctors to suggest a warmer climate. As he later explained in a 1970 interview, "The doctors decided to send me to Fort Whipple, Arizona to the U. S. Public Health Service Hospital (now the V.A. Hospital) where I spent two years in a plaster cast and braces. When I began to regain my health, I bought a few acres of land in Miller Valley, Arizona, which is now a part of Prescott. I raised chickens, rabbits and had an orchard."

Metro and Nellie, who had married in 1924, adopted Herb in 1931. Unfortunately, the marriage was not a happy one, and having a new baby did not keep the family together. After Metro and Nellie divorced, Nellie left the area and Metro got custody of 4-year-old Herb. His health problems, which had been stable for a while, began to recur. He was in and out of the hospital, and unable to care for his young son, which meant that Herb ended up in foster care. His life in Prescott was a series of foster homes, and occasional reunions with his dad, with whom he would stay until Metro’s health declined and Herb was once again returned to foster care.

Although Metro had skill as a mechanic, there is little evidence that he was able to work steadily in Prescott. For a time in the mid-1930s, he was active in veterans’ affairs, and served as a Commander in the American Legion, but there too, the persistent health problems made life difficult. Still, Metro was determined to be a good father to Herb who would later tell reporters that he thought of Metro as both a mom and a dad and respected how hard Metro had tried.

Around the time when World War II broke out, Metro was reasonably healthy again. He found work at an aviation training school in Glendale, and that led to a Civil Service job as a warehouse supervisor at Williams Air Force Base in Chandler. According to city directories, by 1948, Herb and Metro were living in north Phoenix, where Herb graduated from high school. Herb then enrolled in Phoenix College, spending almost two years there. He had thought about becoming a doctor, but he fell in love with performing and studied dramatics. He later told an interviewer that he left school because he ran out of money. The Korean War had broken out, and he was drafted into the Army, where he had his first experience in broadcasting in Radio/Television operations. After Herb finished his military obligation, be began working in radio full-time in Flagstaff, then L.A. where he met and married Patsy Little Brown.

Herb and Patsy moved to Salt Lake City where Herb was a radio disc jockey on the evening shift. He would accept calls from listeners while the songs were on the air and realized there were people out there who just wanted to talk. He convinced station KSL to allow him to try a nighttime talk show, the first of its kind. The station, like all the others, had been signing off at midnight. They gave him a trial period to prove it could work and he was on the air from midnight until 6 a.m. It lasted for nearly three decades! When he first began his "Nightcaps" show in early 1964, Herb decided to create a program where no one would shout or be rude, and where contentious issues were totally off-limits. Because he didn’t have a mother around when growing up and his dad was often ill, he went on to create a radio "family" where he and his many listeners would chat about the simple things in life. And while a friendly, folksy talk show might not work today, for millions of listeners in the 1960s and 70s, the Nitecaps show was a companion, a friend and a source of inspiration. "Nitecaps" was more than just a radio show. It was a club – the Nitecaps International Association. Local members formed chapters, called "Nitestands." Members took Jepko’s message about good will to heart, and volunteered their time to the elderly, ill, service men and women and shut-ins; Nitestands were not only for socializing with other fans of the show, but they were an opportunity to do charitable work in each local community. It was also the first talk show to be syndicated nationally by satellite. And at the heart of the show’s success was a kind and caring man named Herb Jepko, whose attitudes were shaped while growing up in Prescott.

Metro moved to Salt Lake City once Herb’s radio career took off, and he worked with Herb’s wife Patsy, answering fan mail and making sure the monthly newsletter, "The Wick" got out. It was published by Nitecap Radio International from 1965-1979. Metro died in Salt Lake City in late 1971.

Herb died there in 1995 of liver disease due to a drinking problem. He was inducted into the Utah Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame posthumously in June 2003. His plaque reads:

"Over the span of three decades, Herb Jepko used radio and a soothing voice to connect thousands of listeners throughout the country. His Nitecap radio show began in 1964 and tapped into a segment of the elderly population that often went unheard. From midnight till 6:00 a.m, Herb and his listeners discussed everything from the weather to the watermelon crop, but never politics or religion. This controversy-free environment created loyal audiences on KSL and other stations including stints on national networks. Herb Jepko’s Nitecap show pioneered national talk radio and he created a culture served by his magazine and conventions as well as a lasting impact until he signed off in 1990."

It is not surprising that few people in Prescott remember Metro or Herb. Given that Metro spent much of his time in hospitals, and Herb spent much of his in foster care, they undoubtedly were unable to make many friends in the area. Herb always told people that he had been raised in Prescott, but because the most successful part of his career in broadcasting took place in Salt Lake City, where he put down roots and raised his own family, most reporters who have written about his life focused on his time in Utah, rather than his time in Arizona. But to understand Herb’s radio career, his childhood experiences cannot be overlooked, since they affected his style of broadcasting.

Many thanks to Professor Joseph Buchman of the U. of Utah who created a tribute website in Herb’s memory, at www.nitecaps.net

(Donna L. Halper, author, educator, media historian and radio consultant has written four books and many articles about the history of broadcasting.)

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(courtesy J .Buchman) Reuse only bypermission.

Herb Jepko in the radio control room.

Photograph credit: (from nitecaps.net)

A cover of Wick Magazine, Jepko’s monthly newsletter from 1965 to 1979.

Photograph credit: (from nitecaps.net)

Cover of album containing the Nitecaps show theme song. The song, along with others used on the show, may be heard on the website mentioned above.