OUT OF THIN AIR

of wire. From the attic came strange whistles and crackles. Up there, my father was completely absorbed for hours—soldering wires and twiddling knobs. When winter came he set up a small kerosene stove. One day it exploded—ignited, no doubt by an arcing spark. Luckily he managed to toss it, flaming, through a dormer window down into the snow, three stories below, where it burned itself out.

Of course, he was ordered to find himself a new and safer place to conduct his “infernal experimenting”.

“But I need a quiet place.” pleaded Keith.

“A safe place.” insisted Grandfather. So Dad chose the space behind the bathroom door.

His prudence was offset by the inconvenience to the rest of the family who were forced to line up outside and pound on the door. And no doubt the doorpounding was often accompanied by Grandfather’s “No good will ever come from this wireless nonsense, Keith”. It was an admonition to be repeated many times during what became known as “Keith’s bathroom period”.

But a young man driven by a dream tends to be master of all he surveys. Just about everything is seen within the context of that

Keith Rogers experimenting with wireless “behind the bathroom door”. 1907.