Groundbreaking Broadcaster Ralph Story Dead at Eighty-Six

Groundbreaking Broadcaster Ralph Story Dead at Eighty-Six Ralph Story (born Ralph Bernard Snyder in Kalamazoo, MI), radio and television broadcast innovator, died Tuesday morning at his home in Santa Ynez, California at the age of 86 after a long battle with emphysema.Mr. Story began his career as a broadcaster in the late 1940s at KNX radio in Los Angeles. He was hired to host and direct a program about life in Southern California, which eventually gained him national exposure. His style was witty and casual, unusual at that time in the broadcasting field.From there, he moved from working in radio to network television and in 1956 became host of The $64,000 Challenge quiz show in New York. Several years later the show was cancelled after it was found out that some contestants were fed the answers to questions in order to increase ratings. Ralph was not implicated in the scandal and shortly thereafter returned to Los Angeles to start yet another phase of his life's work.