Vince Sanders facts for kids

Vince Sanders is a well-known person who worked in radio and TV for almost 40 years. He wrote two books about his time as a broadcaster and actor: Can't Get HERE from THERE and That's Not Funny!.

Vince Sanders started his career in radio in 1958 at a station called WBEE-AM in Chicago. He worked his way up and retired in 1995 as a vice president and general manager of WWRL-AM in New York City. At the same time, he was also a Vice President at the National Black Network (NBN), which was a news network owned by the same company. Sanders won the Gabriel Award twice, once in 1963 and again in 1972, for his excellent work in broadcasting.

Early Life and Education

Vince Sanders, whose full name is Vinson J. Sanders, was born in 1935. He grew up on a small farm in Waldo, Florida, which was a busy railroad town. When Vince was only six months old, his parents divorced. This meant his grandparents mostly raised him during his younger years.

Vince moved to different schools before settling at the historic Jones High School in Orlando in 1948. During his junior year, he had a hip injury that made him miss a whole school term. After his mother remarried, he stayed in Orlando permanently with his new stepfather. Vince often said his mother taught him a lot and helped shape him into the person he became. After high school, he joined the military and continued his education. Later, he moved to Chicago to study speech and drama.

A Career in Broadcasting

Vince Sanders began his radio career in 1958 at WBEE-AM in Chicago, where he worked as an on-air actor. He also loved performing in plays. He acted in many shows, including a lead role in a play called Our Lan’. Many of his early performances, even on radio, were for community theater groups and were often unpaid.

Sanders performed with several theater groups, including Hull House Theatre and the American Negro Opera Guild. In 1963, he helped as a theater consultant for a big event in Chicago called the American Negro Emancipation Centennial Exposition. He also narrated a documentary for NBC called One More River.

Hosting Talk Shows

In the early 1960s, Vince Sanders started his own call-in radio talk show called Opinion. For more than eight years, he interviewed many important African-American newsmakers and other famous people. During this time, he also hosted a talk show and a quiz show on WCIU-TV in Chicago. At WCIU, he often worked with Don Cornelius, who later became famous for Soul Train.

In 1968, Sanders was a special reporter for a radio station in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 1969, he introduced the first Black and White stand-up comedy team in the nation, Tim and Tom. He managed them for four years.

Moving to NBC and NBN

In 1970, Sanders joined NBC's station WMAQ in Chicago. He worked as an anchor and reporter for both their radio and TV news. In 1972, he narrated another award-winning documentary for NBC called The House That Jack Built.

In 1973, Sanders moved from Chicago to New York City. There, he played a key role in starting the National Black Network (NBN). This was the first radio news network in the country owned and operated by Black individuals. It was created to cover news from an African-American point of view. After just one year, Sanders was promoted from News Anchor to News Director. Soon after, he became Vice President of Broadcast Operations. In this role, he was also the Executive Producer for The Ossie Davis/Ruby Dee Story Hour for three years.

Important Reporting and Leadership

In 1974, Sanders and NBN's sports director, Frank Bannister, traveled to Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). They covered the famous boxing match where Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman. This fight was known as "the fight of the century."

In 1976, Sanders was part of a group of US journalists who visited South Africa. They were there to report on the Transkei region as it gained independence from Apartheid rule. That same year, Sanders also visited Nairobi, Kenya, Israel, and Jordan as part of US delegations.

By 1983, NBN continued to grow under Sanders' leadership. He also became the vice president and general manager of WWRL-AM, NBN's radio station in New York City. He held both important positions until he retired from the company in 1995. Both companies achieved great success while he was in charge.

Vince Sanders is a founding member of the National Association of Black Journalists. He was honored by being inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2005. He also helped start the Central Florida Theatre Alliance and the People's Theatre in Orlando.

Life After Retirement

After retiring, Vince Sanders moved back to Orlando in 1997. He has published two books since then. His book Can't Get HERE from THERE is about his part in creating NBN, the world's first Black-owned and operated radio news network. This network focused on news from an African-American perspective.

His second book, That's Not Funny!, tells the story of his time managing the first Black and White stand-up comedy team, Tim and Tom. This team, made up of actor Tim Reid and comedian Tom Dreesen, faced tough audiences. They tried to make Americans laugh about the difficult parts of America's racial history.

Awards and Recognition

• 1963: Gabriel Award for One More River (NBC)
• 1967: Recognized in A Pictorial History of Radio by Irving Settel
• 1972: Gabriel Award for The House That Jack Built (NBC)
• 1975: Southern Regional Press Institute Meritorious Service Award
• 1975: Founding Member of the National Association Of Black Journalist (NABJ)
• 2005: Inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame (Region 5)