OSCAR BRAND

Oscar Brand, born February 7, 1920, wrote books, articles and the scores for Broadway musicals and documentary films. In 1945, the actor and composer was hired as coordinator of folk music for New York City’s municipal radio station, WNYC. His hugely popular half-hour Sunday, and later Saturday, evening broadcast, Folksong Festival, has the distinction of being the longest continuously broadcast program on radio, worldwide, as noted in Guinness World Records The show was originally supposed to be a temporary program but was broadcast for 71 years through September 24, 2016. The host died less than a week later in his Great Neck home at age 96. ▶