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The first meeting turned out to be more of a Saturday morning breakfast at the station itself. The ladies advised me to ask no questions, just listen, and I would get the picture. They also made a point of telling me to not make too much of what Frank Olsen might do or say as he was quite a “character” – an epic understatement of macabre proportions.

The breakfast was a buffet affair accommodating over 50 people. I met most of the regular studio crew that day, which appeared to consist entirely of well-built good- looking Mexican boys in their late teens, as well as some of the Radio talent. Television conductor Johnny Mann and his wife Betty were there. A middle-aged couple who owned and operated a nude hotel right off Palm Canyon Drive. Vivienne brought actress Linda Christian (once married to Tyrone Power) who was signed to do a morning chat show for Triangle. Richard Weiner, the acting head of the station, was there to greet everyone. Richard was always charming and his credentials included working for ABC Television for years where I believe he won a Peabody Award for his efforts. Richard was also a practicing attorney for the company as well.

I did not meet Frank Olsen that day, but his larger than life presence was felt nonetheless. From day one it seemed everyone at the station was aware that Frank had a shady past. However as long as Frank could create all this revenue, uncannily raising money from numerous backers, no one seemed to mind. His only visible connection to the Gay community aside from being Gay himself was the fact he had owned a string of Gay bars in Seattle, as well as other business enterprises including having bought and sold three other radio stations in the Pacific Northwest.

The game plan, as it was explained to me that morning, was for me to appear on at least three or four of the then-current radio programs at Triangle, to see if I could handle myself on the air. So the following Monday I appeared on Linda Christian’s program, with Vivienne acting as her co-host. It went quite well and from there I did two more, with the final test being Max Craig’s talk show, THE OTHER SIDE. Max was an acerbic gay man in his early forties and also an attorney, who prided himself on being arch and funny. It was my appearance on his show that made it clear to the talent at Triangle that a new talk show host was born.

Max called me later that night and told me Frank Olsen wanted to meet with me in his office and discuss what kind of a show I might be right for at Triangle. The station itself was set up like what you would imagine, an up-and-coming broadcast studio, not too grand but tasteful, with a lobby decorated in ultra modern with overstuffed sofas in abundance. Completing the picture was a receptionist with her own desk facing a bird’s eye view of the main recording chamber behind a soundproof glass wall.

My first impression of Frank Olsen was that he looked like a character out of STAR WARS; he was very pale and quite overweight with a head of thin white hair that fell about his face. He looked just like Jabba the Hutt. He spoke more like a bartender in a rough trade saloon. “Come on in here, Dave, I’m Frank Olsen. Why don’t you just take a seat and let me map out what I have in mind for you here at Triangle.” He then went on to say “I can tell just by looking at you that you are thinking “who is this fat old fart anyway. Well let me enlighten you on a few things: I have bought and sold more businesses in my lifetime than you ever will, I’ll wager, not to mention I have a Hell of a lot of money to back it up. And for your information I also have the best looking lover in this town so never underestimate what I can do. So, if you will trust me we will make some great fucking radio together, OK?”

I was, to put it mildly, a bit overwhelmed by his bulldozer personality, but I must admit he did know the Radio business and seemed very sure of himself at all times. He quickly cut the bullshit and came right to the point with “do you want to be a radio star? I can make you one if you really pay attention to my advice. I know what works on radio and before I am through so will you. Son, you are now enrolled in the School of Olsen.” He asked me something else that day that was a bit shocking, but his candor could also win you over, as it did with me. Frank asked if I minded working for a boss who has been in jail. He explained that having been a gay man in Seattle back in the day had created a legal situation with an underage guy who was his first lover, and he had done time over it.

I reassured Frank that it was really none of my business to know such things, after all “love is blind, or in the eye of the beholder” not to mention a four letter word, so as long as everybody was on the same page about creating some kick ass radio shows, then I was there 100% and ready to put out.. so to speak. From that day forward I played out exactly the kind of tape Frank Olsen wanted to hear. After that interview I went directly over to Richard Weiner’s office where he offered me a contract at $500 a week to broadcast my own hour-long program at the Triangle Television/radio Network.

The concept I had in mind all along was to do a live chat-type broadcast with phone–in guests that could help keep the topics and conversation lively. Since I had a reputation as a “film historian” with a special interest in fantasy and horror, it was decided that I should try doing the program like a “horror host might do on television. I came up with a title that combined the horror genre with gay and lesbian overtones, and so TALES FROM THE CLOSET came to life. I borrowed the title of the then-popular TV show based on the old EC comics, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, substituting the crypt with the dreaded image of the closet from which all gay men must emerge sooner or later.

My first broadcast was aired during the second week of September 1999 and went out live on the internet as what must have been the first gay horror-themed chat show of its kind on radio. The great mystery to evolve from that week was why none of the programs could be heard in the greater Palm Springs area. The only actual radio stations that carried the Triangle Network live were along the Pacific Northwest from the Oregon coast all the way up to KBRO radio in Bremerton Washington and of course Seattle which was Frank Olsen’s hometown.

I was left pretty much to my own devices for the rest of the month for which I was eternally grateful as I was so green at all the technical aspects of doing live radio. My board operator was a 17-year-old-kid named Joey who vaguely resembled C. Thomas Howell and never stopped chewing gum. As soon as he got my show up and running he would split for 30 minutes at a time and I wisely never asked why.

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