THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 22, 1994 TAG: 9412220046
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 142 lines
LARRY WAYNE Soblotne has spent 30 years talking to the walls. But his messages have reached millions.
From inside a half-dozen bathroom-size broadcast booths, the 46-year-old radio man has brought music to audiences in Grafton, N.D.; religion into Hampton Roads homes; news and weather to Outer Banks listeners - and a strong voice of respectful concern to all his endeavors.
This week, Soblotne will turn off the microphone in his Manteo sound studio. Friday is his final scheduled day on the air. He's leaving radio for the first time since 1963.
He plans to continue talking for a living, but his audiences will be much smaller and his messages more moving.
Soblotne is the new pastor of Creech Memorial Baptist Church in Ahoskie.
``I'm not as comfortable behind a pulpit as I am behind a broadcast microphone. I'm much more nervous in church,'' said Soblotne, who has been preaching to the 40-member congregation since November.
``The responsibility is so great when you're speaking in church. I've got people's spiritual futures - perhaps even eternity - at stake. As their minister, I have the responsibility for those folks' spiritual welfare.''
Using the on-air pseudonym of ``Larry Wayne,'' Soblotne has been the news director for WVOD 99.1 in Manteo for more than four years. Before moving to North Carolina's barrier islands, he spent eight years at WYFI, a Christian station owned by the Bible Broadcasting Network based in Chesapeake.
Soblotne aided the Chesapeake Police Department during his tenure in Tidewater, acting as a volunteer chaplain who told families when their next-of-kin were killed. A police officer accompanied the part-time minister when he carried out assignments, but Soblotne did all the talking.
``It was hard, sure. But it also was rewarding in a way,'' said Soblotne, who broke the bad news to dozens of Hampton Roads residents after their relatives fell victim to accidents, suicides and murder.
Sometimes, if the family didn't have a church of their own, the disc-jockey-chaplain performed the service himself.
``On the radio, you don't know if you've reached anyone at all. You're talking by yourself and it's more of a one-way road,'' Soblotne said. ``With preaching, you interact with the people you're talking to. I really prefer it that way.
``I'd much rather minister one-on-one. Being a pastor is something I've wanted to do almost as long as I wanted to be on radio.''
Soblotne's parents gave him his first radio as a Christmas present when he was in the eighth grade in Kokomo, Ind. That spring, Soblotne's social studies teacher assigned the class a project on selecting careers. The young music enthusiast was staying awake late listening to his new transistor radio at the time, so announcing seemed the perfect path.
``There was this night-time disc jockey named Jim David Boaz I used to really like. He seemed like he was having a good time on the air. It sounded like so much fun,'' Soblotne said of his boyhood hero. ``Plus, he got paid for it. What could've been better in a job?''
In researching the junior high school project, Soblotne spent a lot of time just hanging around the broadcast studios of WIOU in Kokomo. That summer, he began helping out part-time. He filled in at the Top 40-format station through high school, serving as weekend disc jockey and overnight operator of the FM satellite feed.
By the time he was a senior, Soblotne knew he wanted to work in radio. He enrolled at Brown Institute of Broadcasting in Minneapolis after graduating from high school and received a one-year diploma. Then he returned home to WIOU as the overnight announcer. It was 1967.
``I worked every air shift they had at that station. Later, I anchored the afternoon news cast. I only edited and read the wires at first. But eventually, my interest turned to reporting news,'' Soblotne said. ``News gets you out of the broadcast booth and in touch with fascinating people. It's never boring. And you learn something every day.''
Although he spent most of his time at the radio station, Soblotne continued attending Baptist services with his parents in Indiana even after he was married and had the first of four children. On April 4, 1971, he went to an evening religious revival at his family's church. That's when he heard Christ call.
At age 26, Soblotne moved to Owatonna, Minn., and enrolled at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College. He received a four-year degree in Bible and pastoral studies. But he didn't forget his radio roots.
The Bible college had its own station, WCTS. Soblotne worked part-time at the radio station and part-time at his studies. Eight years later, he graduated. A school librarian mentioned WYFI and its Chesapeake-based ministry, so Soblotne moved to the East Coast.
``There are people who will listen to Christian radio that would never darken the door of a church,'' Soblotne said. ``The air waves are a good way to minister to people. I really enjoy religious broadcasting.''
A soft-spoken man in person - who projects much more strongly on-air - Soblotne smiles often and easily. He wears crisp, white, short-sleeved dress shirts and nicely pressed pants most days. Despite the chaos of covering the news and juggling two careers, he seldom seems rattled.
``A lot of times, when things get crazy around the office, Larry was the one who was able to get things calmed down and put things into perspective,'' said WVOD office manager Veronica Jones, who has worked with Soblotne since 1989. ``Larry was never late for the early morning newscasts . . . except one morning a few months ago when his car caught on fire on the way to work.''
The carburetor burned, melting the compact auto to its tire rims. The wreckage blocked traffic on the causeway between Nags Head and Manteo. But Soblotne made it to the office in time for the 8 a.m. news cast - and reported his own story on the air.
``Larry is one of the most dedicated, sincere and funny men I know,'' said 1st Sgt. Gary McClenney of the Chesapeake Police Department. ``He is always agreeable; extraordinarily professional. He's really a man of true character.''
While Soblotne served as volunteer chaplain for the Police Department, he also worked as an auxiliary officer. He took shifts with McClenney for eight years - through many midnight hours.
Many nights, the duo had to cover accidents, then notify families when relatives were killed.
``Larry has a gift of being able to listen, really empathize, and then help people see the way to move on. He approached everything in his life, from radio to law enforcement, as a ministry. He has it in his heart,'' McClenney said of his former part-time partner. ``He has ministry in his blood.''
Even after Soblotne moved to the Outer Banks to do news full-time, he continued preaching. For the past four years, he has been a member of the Chowan Baptist Association, filling in for pastors at churches throughout a seven-county area.
``I've always been in radio. But I've also had an overwhelming desire - almost a burden - to preach,'' Soblotne said. ``Radio has helped in my delivery. I annunciate better. It's helped my flow. And you have to think on your feet with radio as well as in the pulpit.
``Religion is not a stuffed-shirt situation. It's not just for the elderly. It's a need in everyone's life. You can't teach someone to be a minister if God has not called them to be one.
Finally, I have surrendered to that call full-time.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW WILSON/Staff
Larry Wayne Soblotne will sign off Friday to become pastor of Creech
Memorial Baptist Church in Ahoskie.
Graphic
MOVING ON
Larry Wayne Soblotne will remain on WVOD 99.1 in Manteo, doing
news broadcasts through Friday. After that time, he can be heard at
Creech Memorial Baptist Church, 501 S. Lloyd St., Ahoskie. He can
be reached by telephone at (919) 332-2866.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY BROADCASTING
RELIGION by CNB