On the air

I have been trying to find out what happened to the other poisoning victims with varying degrees of success. One man I was struggling to find was Edward A. Byron, until I realized the man I kept finding in searches was one and the same.

Apparently, Edward left OSU after the poisonings. That April he, his mother, and two sisters went to Atlanta to spend time with family. Sadly, his 16-year-old sister died there in 1926, and his grandmother died later that same year. He tried studying law in Cincinnati, but that didn't work for him either.

I found this story in the Sunday, April 16, 1950 edition of The (Louisville, KY) Courier-Journal to be both entertaining and informative.

Kentuckian Makes Crime Pay -- On Air

Byron

    CRIME doesn't pay, it says here, except in the case of Edward A. Byron.

    It's been paying off for Ed for some years.

    He plots, directs, produces and is coauthor of "Mr. District Attorney," N.B.C. radio show over WAVE.

    Ed was born in Newport, Ky., 44 years ago, although he doesn't look it (age, not birthplace).

    You would riever know that Mr. and Mrs. Armour C. Byron, who live in Louisville's Cumberland Apartments, had a son that age, either. The elder Byron is a tax consultant, and spends most of his time consulting about these matters in Kentucky towns. His home originally was in Atlanta. Mrs. Byron is from Newport.

Originated Show

    Ed is celebrating 25 years in radio, 11 of them with "Mr. District Attorney," which show he originated. It is one of the very first of the crime shows which have become a trend in the industry.

    Ed went to Ohio State and the University of Cincinnati, in the College of Law at the latter school. He was a quarterback in football, and at the same time wrote school plays--book and lyrics for one. While his father says he thought Ed should have taken up law, the theatrical business won, and he went into radio.

    His law preparation was going to stand him in good stead when "D.A." went on the air, for each program shows Ed's understanding of that subject.

    Ed's first radio experience was in Cincinnati, back in the days when the ukulele player wrote the scripts. After a little of that, he went to work reporting on Cincinnati papers. One day, he answered an ad for a script writer at WLW. At 22, he found himself writing 28 shows a week for $40. In what he calls his spare time, he sold programs and no doubt swept up, as well.

Originated Others

    He eventually became program director at WLW. While he was in that position, WLW inaugurated many of its best-known programs, some of whose stars have really scaled the radio heights: Jane Frohman, Ramona, Phil Brito, Mills Brothers and Singin' Sam. He also originated the "Theater of The Air" broadcast from that station, and dreamed up "Moon River," one of the real old-time radio shows, nearly 20 years old.

    Ed went to New York in 1932, did free-lance work and became radio director for a big tobacco company. He originated "What's My Name?" and "Pot O' Gold." He became radio counsel for United Press. Later, he went to Mexico to write a novel, but only got a job on an onion farm, and came back to radio. Now he heads his own company, Byron Productions.

    "Mr. D. A." started sustaining on April 3, 1939, and was heard five times a week for 15 minutes. He has been with the same sponsor since 1940, and has never repeated a show or a situation.

It Helped Dewey

    "Mr. D. A." became confused with Thomas E. Dewey when the latter was the crusading D.A. in New York. Dewey has said that he heard of at least several people who voted for him for President because "they liked the way he sounded on the radio."

    Len Doyle, "Harrington," is the only original member of the troupe still in the cast. Byron hired him because he liked the way he played John Dillinger.

   "D. A." continually seeks to expose new rackets. Coincidence and a shrewd sense of timing have helped Byron keep up with the parade, and occasionally ahead of it.

    As an outstanding example, in 1944 Byron's show did a story of Nazi saboteurs landing on the American coast. When, 10 days later; such parties did land on the American coast, the F.B.I, came around fast to ask questions.

Edward died in 1964 leaving behind his wife, former radio actress Catherine McCune, and two sons, Christopher and Kevin.

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