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The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson, Ernesto Portillo Jr. Column: Media Pioneers' Voices Resound for Listeners ? En Espa?Ol

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 June 2006, 06:00 CDT

By Ernesto Portillo Jr., The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson

Jun. 14--It was a Sunday morning, I remember, when I walked into the old KGUN television studio on North Sixth Avenue near East Grant Road.

I wasn't more than 10 years old when my father took me to Channel 9, the home of "Marshall KGUN." Every child in Tucson knew the buckaroo through his children's TV show.

We weren't there to see him, however. KGUN had two other larger-than-life television stars, as far as I was concerned.

In the early '60s, I didn't know of any rock stars or silver-screen icons. But I knew who Henry and Tony Villegas were.

"Mexican Theater," the Villegas brothers' homegrown television program, was a Sunday-morning staple in many Tucson Mexican homes. They rocked on the tube.

With rich, resonant baritone voices, they presented local musicians and Mexican movies.

Through the 1960s, their TV program was the only one of its kind on local television.

As far as I was concerned, los hermanos Villegas might as well have been rock stars or movie idols. They certainly were pioneers.

Thursday night, their memory and that of nine other Spanish-language media pioneers came together at the annual dinner of Chicanos por la Causa, a community social service organization.

In addition to the Villegas brothers, the other honorees included the late Don Jacinto Orozco, Tucson's first Spanish-language radio personality; and the late Palma brothers, Lorenzo and Arnulfo, and the late Claudio Jimenez y Fernandez, also radio personalities.

Also honored were television host and former Arizona Daily Star columnist Leyla Cattan; Spanish-language advertising trailblazers Raul Gamez Bogarin and his sister, Bertha Gamez, both of whom also worked in television and radio; Josie Celaya Velarde, who as a teenager was one of the first female Spanish-language radio announcers; Raul E. Aguirre, who helped create bilingual radio in Tucson and today owns a bilingual advertising agency; and my father, Ernesto V. Portillo, who personified Spanish-language radio in Tucson for more than 40 years.

Videos of old pictures flashed on two large screens at Desert Diamond Casino, filling the room with nostalgia and filling family members with alegria.

"All those fond memories came back immediately and they were good," said Lorraine Palma Madrid, 43, the youngest daughter of Lorenzo Palma.

For Madrid, the youngest of five children of Lorenzo and Gloria Palma, it was an especially sweet night. Long overdue recognition came to her father, who died in 1975 at the age of 51.

Palma came to Tucson from Nogales, Sonora, after the war and met Jacinto Orozco, who had a Spanish-language radio program.

Palma's humor and quick wit made him one of the most loved Spanish-language radio personalities in Tucson in 1950s and 1960s. He often served as master of ceremonies at musical amateur showcases at El Cine Plaza, the one-time Downtown Spanish-language movie house. He also did a lot of charity work, said Madrid, director of human resources at Marana Health Center.

I'll remember Palma for his trademark dark green sunglasses and his laughter.

The evening honoring Palma, his brother and others not only generated memories for family and friends, it made history. It was a rare Tucson night in which local Mexican-American pioneers were recognized for their contributions and achievements.

"It was nice to know they haven't been forgotten," said Madrid.

We won't.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Arizona Daily Star

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