“He had a solid voice. A comforting voice. And a great sense of humor,” said Vickie Wilson of Scott Diseth, who she first heard on local public radio. (Photo from Vickie Wilson)
You’ve heard of love at first sight. But what about love at first listen? This is a story about one woman who found exactly that with the flip of a the dial.
Vickie Wilson lives in Fairbanks. But in 1980, she was working in a state fish hatchery in Bristol Bay. Perched on the edge of a lake that would flash freeze in the winter, she was pretty far removed. No movies. No cell phones. The road out would often close. But there was one reliable tether to the outside world.
“The radio station, KDLG in Dillingham – they were our news, our music, and everything and so you got to know the voices,” Wilson said.
And there was one voice, in particular, that drew her attention.
“His name was Scott Disteth,” Wilson said. “He had an absolutely hilarious sense of humor. So it was one of those things where I was like, “Yeah I really want to get to know this person.”
It was like morning catnip, something that got her through breakfast and carried into the day at work.
“The radio was always on so it was this kind of strong comforting sound to hear that station and also to hear his voice giving you the news – the sad, the good, and the humor of it,” Wilson said.
Vickie Wilson and Scott Disteth met while Wilson was working at fish hatchery in Bristol Bay. Diseth was a host for KDLG in Dillingham. They’ve been married for 35 years (Photo from Vickie Wilson)
This infatuation with his voice went on for months. But, in the pre-Facebook stalking age, that’s about as much intel as Wilson could gather about the man behind the microphone. “And we didn’t have phones at the hatchery to call or anything, so I asked one of the biologists that came up from town, ‘What does this guy look like?’ And he was like, ‘Well he’s not very tall. He has a beard and wears glasses.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my god, you just described every man in Dillingham.'”
One day, a year into her post, Wilson was baking in her apartment. It was Saturday, close to Christmas. She got word that two men were crossing the frozen lake on snowmobiles. She wasn’t in a hurry to come out to greet them, until a call came in through her intercom from her co-workers.
“They told me, ‘You’re not going to believe it. You’re not going to believe who is in the office. It’s Scott Diseth.’ And I’m like, ‘No!’ I quickly wrapped up the scones I just cooked. I headed down there. I walked in and I was like, “Okay, there’s a tall [guy] and a not-so-tall [guy].” I hoped it was the guy with the blue snow machine pants on and the helmet,” Wilson recalled.
And of course, his measured cadence was a dead giveaway. Scott liked Vickie’s voice too and early in their dating life, attempted to get her record station IDs for KDLG. “You know, like, ‘Good morning!’ Or some type of sexy good morning, but I was never able to do a voice,” Wilson admitted.
Which suited Vickie just fine.“And I still love his voice,” Wilson said. “He has a very pleasant voice and frequently will read to me because I do enjoy his reading. His voice is just consistent and comforting.”
Scott and Vickie are celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary this year. Scott was also a volunteer in the 1970s at KNOM in Nome.
