Mike Lawrence, Part 1 of 3. Early interest in radio (about 1950), especially the technical side. Crystal sets, then battery operated valve radios. Career options, chose radio broadcasting. To Wellington as a technical trainee when left school. Short wave radio. With 2ZB in Wellington for 6 months. Limited international communication about 1960. Radio hams. Several years training, receiving news from the BBC and other overseas radio, then passing on to Broadcasting House. First person in New Zealand to hear of President Kennedy’s assassination. Limited radio news service in 1960s, relying on newspapers as a source. To Palmerston North in 1974. Private radio stations some years later. Radio Hauraki. Radio in Palmerston North from about late 1920s. Types of programme.