Jerome Neuman, best known as “Jerry Neuman” to more than three decades of radio listeners as a voice on KQED, died on May 27 in Walnut Creek after a short illness. He was 84.
Neuman discovered radio as a freshman at Ithaca College, when he learned the campus station was looking for someone with a knowledge of classical music. However, he made his first appearance on the radio as a proud representative of Brooklyn’s P. S. 91 on the program “Quiz Kids” on WNYE in New York.
Classical music on radio became his calling. He joined KDFC in 1974, and in 1976 he joined KQED. For 37 years he Neuman was the iconic voice of the station in the late afternoon and evening. Punctuated by wry observations in a rich bass voice, former colleagues recall him as the master of witty transitions between program segments. Former colleagues also remember Neuman for his efforts to make KQED’s traffic reporters laugh on the air.
When KQED changed formats from classical music to news in 1987, he became the host of “Music Quiz” and Oakland Symphony Orchestra broadcasts from the Paramount Theatre. He also produced “Check It Out,” a program of short daily episodes about libraries and how to use them, a lifelong interest of his. It was heard around the world on NPR and Armed Forces Radio.
Neuman served in the U.S. Army Security Agency in Germany, where he transcribed coded Russian transmissions on a military-issue typewriter.
Shortly before his retirement, KQED profiled Neuman, exploring his life, military service and four decades in Bay Area radio.