Stan Soltoski's voice was the first many Virgin Islanders heard in the morning on the old WVWI in the 1970s and early '80s. As former associates on St. Thomas learned Wednesday, that voice was stilled June 19, when the longtime radio show host died in the Veterans Administration Hospital in Puerto Rico.
According to Christine O'Keefe, who for some of those years hosted the weekday "Conversation" talk show that followed Soltoski's 5 to 9 a.m. stint, serious problems with a spinal injury and other health complications forced him to leave the radio job and eventually to move permanently to Puerto Rico, where he was in and out of the VA Hospital and Annex.
On June 14, O'Keefe said, she telephoned to wish him a happy 64th birthday and was told that he was in intensive care at the hospital. Wednesday, when she called to inquire about his condition, she learned of his death.
"He was an institution," O'Keefe said. "He had a caustic sense of humor. Even with his medical problems, up until a few weeks ago, he would send the most hysterical, brilliant letters."
It was an assessment echoed by others who had worked with him at the station.
"You had to know Stan to understand his dry, witty sense of humor," colleague Dennis "Tex" Murphy said. He recalled that Soltoski and the first host of the "Conversation" show, Louise Noble, "had such a good rapport that they would chat for 15 minutes into her show."
Bill Kenny, another station staffer in those days, said he would routinely fill in as newscaster when Rick Ricardo was gone and could handle the job "because it was well-defined." But the time came, he said, when "I had to fill in for Stan when he went on vacation. The question was, how?" He remembers vividly to this day that listeners "would call in and say ‘Well, you're not Stan, but you're giving it your best shot.'"
"A lot of times he didn't feel well" but he never let his listeners know, Kenny said. He recalled that Soltoski needed to spend a lot of time in the sun because of a deficiency in his system and for years "would get off work at 9:15 or 9:30 a.m. and head right to the beach."
Lee Carle, who worked at WVWI from around 1974 to 1982 between stints at WSTA, said Soltoski ran the engineering board for the newscasts.
"He was one of those persons who could come up with a quip in any situation. He did great commercials, had a relaxed approach and a great command of the English language," Carle recalled. "He reminded me of a radio version of Dave Garroway. He was an intellectual but he still could speak for the common man. In the terms of those days, Stan was hip, he was plugged in, he knew what was happening."
Trent Lawrence, who took over the early show after Soltoski's departure, recalled that before he met the man, "I had listened to him for a long time, especially when he was with Louise [Noble]. I couldn't remember laughing so hard since ‘The Buster Brown Show' with Midnight the Cat and Froggy the Gremlin. He was a delight to work with. He had a perception that nothing worthwhile was worth taking seriously."
Noting that broadcasters often "don't look the way they sound," Lawrence said he was surprised upon meeting Soltoski for the first time to find that "he was a big man."
Soltoski left the station in 1983, the year after Lawrence came aboard, and "we missed him as soon as he walked out the door."
Soltoski's death came just months after the passing of another longtime WVWI personality, newscaster Carter Hague. "Carter was another comedian," Lawrence mused. "That was a funny place to work . . . I was watching a program on the old ‘M*A*S*H' series, and I kind of felt that way about WVWI. There was a wonderful dynamic about us, even though we were a terribly varied – or wonderfully varied – lot."
O'Keefe said she understood that cremation was planned and that Soltoski's ashes were to be placed in a military cemetery on the mainland. She said those interested in helping to plan a memorial service can contact her by e-mail at tcokeefe@att.net.

Finance Committee Chairwoman Lorraine Berry’s call for 20 employees of the Internal Revenue Bureau to testify before the body next week isn’t sitting well with IRB Director Claudette Farrington.
On Tuesday, Berry subpoenaed 20 IRB supervisory staffers to testify before her committee on July 6 in order to expose "management and operational deficiencies" in the agency charged with collecting money owed the government.
Included in the list of subpoenaed IRB workers is Farrington, 12 employees from St. Thomas and seven from St. Croix.
But on Wednesday, Farrington said having so many IRB employees appear in the Senate would "essentially leave the offices unmanned, unduly disrupting the operations of the bureau and negatively impact our ability to serve the public."
To avoid shutting down the bureau, Farrington asked Berry to outline her scope of questioning so the relevant IRB personnel could attend the hearing. Berry couldn't immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
Farrington also noted that July 3 and 4 are government holidays, so closing the bureau in order to testify before the committee would mean three days of work would be lost. In her letter to Berry, Farrington suggested that the hearing take place the July 11 or 12.
Berry, meanwhile, said the emphasis of the hearing will be on IRB’s collection efforts, "the lack of which adversely impacts on the revenue stream of the Virgin Islands government and its operational budget."

Finance Committee Chairwoman Lorraine Berry’s call for 20 employees of the Internal Revenue Bureau to testify before the body next week isn’t sitting well with IRB Director Claudette Farrington.
On Tuesday, Berry subpoenaed 20 IRB supervisory staffers to testify before her committee on July 6 in order to expose "management and operational deficiencies" in the agency charged with collecting money owed the government.
Included in the list of subpoenaed IRB workers is Farrington, 12 employees from St. Thomas and seven from St. Croix.
But on Wednesday, Farrington said having so many IRB employees appear in the Senate would "essentially leave the offices unmanned, unduly disrupting the operations of the bureau and negatively impact our ability to serve the public."
To avoid shutting down the bureau, Farrington asked Berry to outline her scope of questioning so the relevant IRB personnel could attend the hearing. Berry couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
Farrington also noted that July 3 and 4 are government holidays, so closing the bureau in order to testify before the committee would mean three days of work would be lost. In her letter to Berry, Farrington suggested that the hearing take place the July 11 or 12. Berry couldn’t
Berry, meanwhile, said the emphasis of the hearing will be on IRB’s collection efforts, "the lack of which adversely impacts on the revenue stream of the Virgin Islands government and its operational budget."

Aubrey Daniel was shot Wednesday morning at 329 Hospital Ground following what police believe was a dispute with his assailants.
Daniel was hospitalized for treatment of gunshot wounds to the left arm, the right hip and the right thigh. Police sources said detectives were called to the area near Bethel Baptist Church minutes before 10 a.m. by reports that two persons in a maroon vehicle shot a man and drove off.
The victim is reportedly not cooperating with police investigators.
A release from the Police Department said witnesses heard an argument between the two, then heard five to six shots and saw a vehicle leaving the scene at a high rate of speed.
Anyone with information should contact the V.I. Police Department's Investigation Bureau at 774-4050 or 911.

Sixty-five million years ago on an island in a sea lived an affable dinosaur named Aladar being raised by a band of lemurs. A brilliant meteor explosion, which initiates "Dinosaur," had thrown Aladar into this peculiar circumstance.
Another meteor explosion takes Aladar and his lemur pals to the mainland where they begin a search for foliage seeking the fabled Nesting Ground. Not so fast there, Aladar, there's a band of big, bad dinosaurs after you, searching for the same place. And so it goes. Good guys, bad guys, iguanodon and pterodactyls.
But Disney always comes through, and the computer generated images are reputedly "astounding, seamlessly blending with real life locations." The film is said to fade a bit on the long trek through the desert, with the older and weaker falling by the wayside, or whatever they fell by those millions of years ago. Big desert, no Big Macs.
Voices are provided from some highly unlikely quarters. Ossie Davis is the head lemur, a wise old soul, and none other than the British Lady Joan Plowright as Baylene, an elderly Brachiosaur, who gives Aladar motivation for his quest, and brings a "bold spirit and disarming dignity" to the role.
Directed by Ralph Zondag and Eric Leighton, the film also stars the voices of D. B. Sweeny as Aladar and Julianna Marguiles as his love interest.
It is rated PG for intense images.
It is playing at Market Square East.

The "best of the rest" single elimination tournament of the Government and Industrial Coed Slowpitch Softball League championship is set. It will be Apex going up against Tropical/Crowley Shipping Shipwreckers. The date of the game is yet to be determined, but the teams are set. On Tuesday Apex edged Postal, 17-16, in a nine-inning marathon game.
Apex stared the game with five runs in the first inning. Luis Mejias led the game off with a single. After the next batter flied out to the right fielder, Anthon Cannonier tripled to drive Mejias home. Apex pitcher, Bryon Evans then doubled Cannonier home. Jeffrey Hodge reached on an error. Ronnie Hodge followed with a triple that brought Evans and Jeffrey Hodge home. Peterson Ambo then singled in Ronnie Hodge for the fifth and final run of the inning.
Postal responded quickly as they, too, scored five runs in their half of the first inning. Ironically, Postal scored their five runs similarly to the way Apex did in the top of the inning. The lead off batter, Adelbert Hendricks hit a double. The next batter got out and Wilburn Hendricks then followed with a single to bring Adelbert Hendricks home. George Lewis tripled to drive home Wilburn Hendricks. Elvin Durant then singled Lewis home. Willington Philpott reached on an error by Apex shortstop, Cannonier that allowed Durant to score. Philpott later scored on a two out single by Postal starting pitcher Liston George for the tying run.
Apex erupted in the second inning. Postal opened up the floodgate with an error to start of the inning. With two runners on, Victor Porter hit a three-run home run over the left field fence. This prompted Postal to make a pitching change, as they removed George and brought in Juan Rivera to pitch.
But Apex bats were not silenced by Rivera.
The first three batters that he faced , Cannonier, Evans and Jeffrey Hodge, doubled and scored. Ronnie Hodge then reached on another error and score when Ambo tripled to center field drive him home. However, Ambo was thrown out at the plate as he tried for an inside-the-park home run.
Postal was now down, 12-5, but failed to score in the bottom of the second inning. However, they returned the favor by retiring Apex in order in the top of the third. Postal chipped away at the lead by scoring two runs in the bottom of the third.
Apex padded their lead with three runs in the top of the fourth as Postal committed two very costly errors. The errors bug then hit Apex as they then committed three errors that allowed Postal to score five runs and get back into the game.
Both teams remained scoreless in the fifth and sixth inning. Postal held Apex scoreless again in the top of the seventh inning. Postal rallied back in the bottom of the inning. Philpott, Jennifer Jeffers and Dean Thompson each singled to lead off the inning. Thompson's single drove home Philpott. Apex failed to turn an inning ending double play and Postal tied the game at 15.
The game when into extra innings. However, neither team mounded any real threat and thus went scoreless in the eight inning.
In the ninth inning Porter singled but was later forced out on third. With two outs, and runners on first and second, Ronnie Hodge singled home Cannonier. A throwing error an the relay from left field allowed Evans to score an insurance run.
In the bottom of the inning, Apex's defense started off poorly as the first two batters, Durant and Philpott reached on errors. Jeffers then tapped the ball back to the pitcher, Evans who threw to third to forced out Durant. Thompson followed with a single to left to drive home Philpott. However, Jeffers was thrown out at third on the play. Evans then intentionally walked opposing pitcher, Rivera to face the next batter Prudencia Freeman. She tapped the ball back to the pitcher who threw her out at first to end the game.

Virgin Islands literary scholar Dr. Barbara Christian died on June 25 in California at the age of 57.
Along with being the first African American woman to receive tenure at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1978, Christian, who was born on St. Thomas, was the first black person to be promoted to full professor at the school in 1986.
Additionally, between 1978 and 1983, Christian served as chairperson for the Department of African American Studies at the prestigious California university.
In 1991, she won Berkeley's Distinguished Teaching Award, becoming the first African American to do so. In 1995, she was honored with the Phi Beta Kappa Award for Distinguished Teaching from the Northern California chapter of the society. And earlier this year the university chancellor awarded her the Berkeley Citation, "for distinguished achievement and for notable service to the university," the highest honor one can receive from the school.
Before those accomplishments, however, Christian served as a lecturer in summer programs at the then-College of the Virgin Islands. She also delivered a major paper at the University of the Virgin Islands’ Folklife As Narrative summit in 1996.
"Too soon we have lost the creative and literary genius of Dr. Barbara Christian," said UVI President Orville Kean. "Dr. Christian made us all proud."
Christian graduated with honors from Marquette and was selected as the keynote speaker for the student body of the entire university. She earned her Ph.D. in Contemporary British and American Literature from Columbia University in New York.
Dr. Cora Christian, Barbara’s sister, said that her sibling authored and edited several books and almost a hundred published articles and reviews. She was best known for her landmark study "Black Women Novelists, The Development of a Tradition, 1892-1976" (Greenwood Press). Appearing in 1980, following the general rediscovery of the work of important women writers from the past, such as Zora Neale Hurston and Nella Larson, and with the rise to prominence of several younger authors, notably Alice Walker and Toni Morrison, "Black Women Writers" stimulated the embryonic field of African American feminist literary criticism.
To read more about Dr. Cora Christian’s memories of her remarkable sister, go to the People section in the Source.

Virgin Islands literary scholar Dr. Barbara Christian died on June 25 in California at the age of 57.
Along with being the first African American woman to receive tenure at the University of California, Berkeley in 1978, Christian, who was born on St. Thomas, was the first Black to be promoted to full professor at the school in 1986. Additionally, between 1978 and 1983, Christian served as chairperson for the Department of African American Studies at the prestigious California university.
In 1991, Barbara won Berkeley's Distinguished Teaching Award, becoming the first African American to do so. In 1995, she was honored with the Phi Beta Kappa Award for Distinguished Teaching from the Northern California chapter of the society. And earlier this year the university chancellor awarded her the Berkeley Citation, "for distinguished achievement and for notable service to the university," the highest honor one can receive from the school.
Before those accomplishments, however, Christian served as a lecturer in summer programs at the then College of the Virgin Islands. She also delivered a major paper at the University of the Virgin Islands’ Folklife As Narrative summit in 1996.
"Too soon we have lost the creative and literary genius of Dr. Barbara Christian," said UVI President Orville Kean. "Dr. Christian made us all proud."
Christian graduated with honors from Marquette and was selected as the keynote speaker for the student body of the entire university. She earned her Ph.D. in Contemporary British and American Literature from Columbia University in New York.
Dr. Cora Christian, Barbara’s sister, said that her sibling authored and edited several books and almost a hundred published articles and reviews. She was best known for her landmark study "Black Women Novelists, The Development of a Tradition, 1892-1976" (Greenwood Press). Appearing in 1980, following the general rediscovery of the work of important women writers from the past, such as Zora Neale Hurston and Nella Larson, and with the rise to prominence of several younger authors, notably Alice Walker and Toni Morrison, "Black Women Writers" stimulated the embryonic field of African American feminist literary criticism.
To read more about Dr. Cora Christian’s memories of her remarkable sister, go to the People section in the Source.

A tropical wave passing south of the local area Wednesday will bring some substantial cloud cover to the region but the possibility of rain is slight. The wave, the remnants of tropical depression two, which developed and dissipated over the past weekend, continues moving off to the west about 20-25 miles per hour. "Its showing no signs of redevelopment at the present time as high level winds are stripping the tops off the wave system," Knight Quality Stations' meteorologist
Alan Archer said Wednesday morning. "We'll see a lot of cloud cover but only one or two sprinkles but no significant rainfall," he added. Doppler radar has indicated only a few scattered light rain showers moving across the Virgin Islands and the BVI early Wednesday.
But Archer cautioned that another westward-moving tropical wave could intensify as it approaches the Virgin Islands over the weekend. The wave is located at 7 degrees north longitude 39 west latitude, about 1,400 miles south of the Windward Islands. "There is a low pressure center associated with the wave but its not really developing now because of the cooler sea surface temperatures," Archer said. Satellite photos however indicate that the wave could feed off of warmer sea temperatures and develop by the time it gets to 50 degrees west latitude , about 900 miles from the Virgin Islands on Saturday. The sea temperatures beyond 50 degrees west latitude are now exceeding 80 degrees.
Wednesday's weather forecast calls for partly sunny, hazy and breezy conditions across the U.S. and the British Virgin Islands with high temperatures in the middle 80s and winds from the east at 15-25 miles per hour and gusty at times. A small craft advisory is in effect for all Caribbean waters and for the off-shore waters of the Atlantic.
A wind advisory that was issued Tuesday night for elevations above 1,000 feet has been cancelled.
Archer's daily forecasts are available by calling 774-4786.

Innovative Communication Corp. rebounded from its loss on Saturday by defeating Airport 13-6 Monday night.
The win tied the playoff series between the two teams in the Government and Industrial Coed Slowpitch Softball League.
ICC, the Farrington division’s regular season champions, scored four quick runs in the first inning. The first two batters, Michael Thomas and Richard Penn, walked and Athniel "Bobby" Thomas singled in Michael Thomas. With one out, Airport pitcher Dale Rhymer made a throwing error on a ball hit back to him that allowed Penn to score. Athniel Thomas scored on a single by Seretta Jennings. Henry "Trouble" Richards singled in Vincent Matthews who reached on Rhymer’s throwing error.
Airport answered with three runs in the bottom of the first inning to cut ICC’s lead to one, 4-3. With one out, Ashton "Minus" Frett tripled. Kenneth Smith then doubled home Frett. ICC then intentionally walked Terry Browne. However, Rhymer responded with a double to drive home Smith. Daphne Thomas hit a sacrifice fly that allowed Browne to score the third run of the inning.
ICC scored single runs in the next two innings. Athniel Thomas drove Penn home, who had walked, with a triple in the second inning. Aubrey Haynes walked and then scored on a fielding error by Airport left fielder Frett after a single by Jennings in the third.
With the score 6-3 in the bottom of the third, Airport rallied to tie the game at six. Smith hit a solo home run with one out. He was followed by back-to-back singles by Browne and Rhymer. They were driven in by a Clarence Nibbs double.
ICC responded with two runs in the top of the fourth inning to regain a two run lead. Robert Crossley singled home Dawn Williams and Michael Thomas. ICC then scored five runs in the top of the fifth inning to blow the game open and out of reach for Airport.