Longtime radio host, Great Neck resident Oscar Brand dies at 96

Great Neck resident Oscar Brand, a folk singer and songwriter who was known for hosting the longest-running single-host radio show in history, died on Friday. He was 96.
Brand’s manager, Doug Yeager, told The New York Times that he died of pneumonia at his home in Great Neck.
Yeager told The  Times that Brand was “one of the strongest, most indefatigable men I’ve ever known.”
“At 90 years old, I’d call and I’d say, ‘Oscar, where are you?’” he said, and Brand replied,  “I’m up in the tree, cutting some limbs.’’
Brand was born on Feb. 7, 1920 in Winnipeg.
According to The  Times, his family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, when he was seven, later  moved to Chicago and then settled in Brooklyn, where the family was seeking treatment for Brand, who was born without a calf muscle.
Brand is a graduate of Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn and went on to receive his psychology degree from Brooklyn College.
He enlisted in the Army in 1942, where he served in the induction center’s psychology section and edited a newspaper for psychiatric patients, according to The  Times.
Brand moved to Greenwich Village after he was discharged and sought out a career in radio.
In December 1945, he hosted the premier of his radio show “Folksong Festival,” which was broadcast on WNYC, a state-owned radio station.
According to The  Times, WNYC’s program director asked Brand after his first show what his plans were for the next week. He replied that he would be back in the same studio, even though they had not previously discussed his returning to host the show.
He would go on to spend the next 70-plus years hosting “Folksong Festival,” without a contract and without asking for any compensation, according to The  Times.
Brand would often have both prominent and up-and-coming folk artists on his show.
Notable musicians who were featured on his show were a young Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, Harry Belafonte, B.B. King and Arlo Guthrie.
In 1995, Brand won a Peabody Award for his 50-year milestone hosting “Folksong Festival.”
In 2005, the Guinness World Records acknowledged “Folksong Festival” as the longest-running radio show with a single host.
Yeager told The  Times that Brand’s final show was recorded on Sept. 24, just six days before his death.
As well as his achievements in radio, he was the curator of the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame, wrote seven best-selling books, recorded over 90 LP’s, wrote songs for prominent artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Doris Day, wrote Broadway musicals and plays and even hosted television programs.
Brand also scripted commercials for Log Cabin Syrup, Oldsmobile, Cheerios and Maxwell House.
He is survived by his wife, Karen Brand, and four children, James, Eric, Jordan and Jeannie.
Brand’s family is holding a private funeral and is in the process of planning a memorial concert, according to Newsday.