Martin Hawrysko
The Blowtorch Press is my self-sanctioned forum to opine and whine about trivial and occasionally relevant media happenings circulating via print, broadcast and online, in and out of Chicago.
Media has been a narrow interest pretty much all my life. I’ve been enamored with talk radio since I was a kid, and have paid close attention to the small nuances that most people don’t even notice or think twice about. Such examples include the on air graphics during a newscast or sporting event, studio set design, imaging, legal IDs and call letters.
My use of the name Blowtorch, and what would eventually become this website, was inspired by Chicago radio personality Garry Meier. On his radio shows, Meier regularly used the word blowtorch in various phrases. Even though I initially wasn’t aware of their meaning, I just knew that it sounded cool. When I began posting on the ChicagolandRadioandMedia.com message board in 2007, everyone else there posted under pen names. Since I didn’t want to use my real name at the time, I had to think of something. Blowtorch was the obvious choice.
In the real world, I’m a graphic designer and front-end web developer from the southwest suburbs of Chicago. I graduated with my bachelor’s degree from Lewis University in 2008, where I majored in print journalism and graphic design, with added studies in radio broadcasting, marketing and public relations. My senior year, I was a stringer for the Daily Southtown (then known as the Southtown Star).
And, despite having never lived in the state of Wisconsin, I am a diehard Green Bay Packers fan. My hope is that my equally fanatic obsession with the Chicago Blackhawks is enough to make up for such perceived atrocities.