By Leyna Krow, Assistant Editor, JTNews
Arthur Kulman, the man who convinced Seattle of the power of rock and roll in the 1950s, died on December 14, 2007, following a yearlong battle with lung cancer.
Kulman was born at Seattle’s Providence Hospital in 1925. He attended Garfield High School and also took classes at Talmud Torah, which is now Seattle Hebrew Academy. He graduated from Garfield in 1942.
Kulman served in the army as a combat medic during World War II. When he returned from the war, Kulman enrolled at the University of Washington and quickly became interested in radio broadcasting, taking on the role of host for several UW-produced programs that were aired on various Seattle radio stations. During his time at UW, Kulman became the original voice of the public address system at the new Seattle High School Memorial Football Stadium.
Following his graduation from the UW in 1949, Kulman took a job as a radio announcer for KELS in Kelso, but quickly found that he was better suited to the business side of radio.
“He was kind of a marketing guy at heart,” said Steve Lawson, Kulman’s son-in-law. “From his early radio days, which was a creative outlet for him, he quickly transitioned into the business side.”
After a few short stints at other stations, including KWLK-AM and FM in Longview and KOL in Seattle, Kulman was hired as the sales manager of the Top 40 station KJR, a position he held for 14 years. While with KJR Radio, Kulman was instrumental in convincing local business leaders of the budding popularity of rock and roll and the influence of the young baby boomer generation.
Kulman was correct in his prediction about the Baby Boomers, and, during his time at KJR, the station boasted upwards of a 37 percent rating, which, today, would be more than the market share of the top seven local stations combined.
After running his own marketing business for a short time, Kulman became the manager of the Washington State Film Office in 1980. There, Kulman was responsible for luring filmmakers to shoot in Washington State. In this pursuit, he was unquestionably successful; during his six years with the film office, more productions were filmed in Washington than in all previous years of the state’s history.
Kulman was a longtime member of Temple De Hirsch Sinai, although in his later years, he had joined Temple B’nai Torah. After his retirement, he continued his work in marketing as a volunteer with SCORE, an organization that offers consulting and workshops for small business owners. He spent his last years of life traveling and enjoying time with his family.
“He was so supportive and loving,” Lawson said. “My kids couldn’t have asked for a better grandfather.”
Art is survived by his wife of 54 years, Shirley Kulman, his daughter Debbie Lawson, son Howard Kulman and grandchildren Alex Rosenstein, Dan Lawson, Carlee Kulman and Austin Kulman.