"Focus: America" radio talk show was created by Richard (Ric) Arenstein and Larry Wallenstein, both juniors in the Communications Department, University of Miami in 1975. The show originally started as a local program "Focus: Miami" and was produced at the UM's campus radio station WVUM-FM where Arenstein interviewed local personalities and celebrities visiting Miami.
After the successful first season, the tapes of the talk show were mailed to more than 70 college stations across the country under the name "Focus: America." In his senior year, Arenstein and his new associate, Chuck Bortunick, traveled under a grant from the Burger King Corp. to tape interviews of celebrities in other parts of the country. The show ended because of Arenstein's graduation.
This Friends of the Library University of Miami records contains 11 boxes of audio recordings of their events held between 1960 and 1977. Please see the attached container list for the list of the speakers and topics. The tapes were professionally remastered and digitized in 2012 to commemorate Richter Library's 50th anniversary.
The Mildred Merrick collection consists of administrative documents, organization reports, ephemera, correspondence, postcards, travel photos, audio tapes, and other items collected by Mrs. Merrick, who was a former reference and acquisition librarian at the University of Miami Libraries.
