Len Zola
Len Zola capped a distinguished broadcasting career with what may be his greatest accomplishment: turning the diverse and often competitive crowd of Boston-area broadcasters into a community of colleagues.
Full Bio
Len Zola’s career in New England radio and TV began in 1953 with a summer job at WLYN 1360AM in Lynn MA doing weekends and fill-in. In the fall he was a part-time news editor at WORL (now WROL) 950AM in Boston. By 1956 Zola was a newscaster at WWNH in Rochester NH, then back to the Bay State at WESX 1230AM in Salem as News Director.
In 1958 he moved to WCRB AM-FM in Waltham (13340AM, 102.5FM) as News and Public Service Director, then to WBZ, hosting the final months of the American Airlines “Music ‘Til Dawn” show. Subsequently he did fill-in work at WHDH.
The following year he became Program Director of WKOX-FM 105.7 in Framingham (now WROR) and hosted an evening show, “Tasteful Music, Tastefully Presented” at a time when many stations eschewed the onslaught on rock-n-roll. The station ID included a horn riff and WKOX-FM was sometimes dubbed “A horny station.”
In the early 60’s Zola was a self-described “Elevator Music Host” on WEZE 1260AM (now WBIX), WSRO 1470AM in Marlborough (now WAZN) and WTAO 740AM in Cambridge (now WJIB). In From 1965 to 1972 Zola was a news and sports writer for WHDH-AM and TV. After the Boston Herald lost the WHDH-TV license in 1972 Zola worked in PR for the Massachusetts Federation of Nursing Homes.In 1982 he returned to radio as a part-time announcer for WCRB.
In 2001 he formed the Media Gang – a group of radio, TV and print media veterans holding “Nostalgia Luncheon” reunions. By 2007 this lead to the founding of the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Zola died in 2011 at the age of 79.
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