Walter Kaner (May 5, 1920 – June 26, 2005) was an American
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
,
radio personality
A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...
and
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
.
He broadcast using the name ''Tokyo Mose'' during and after World War II. Kaner broadcast on U.S. Army Radio, at first to offer comic rejoinders to the propaganda broadcasts of
Tokyo Rose
Tokyo Rose (alternative spelling Tokio Rose) was a name given by Allied troops in the South Pacific during World War II to all female English-speaking radio broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. The programs were broadcast in the South Pacific ...
and then as a parody to entertain U.S. troops abroad. In U.S.-occupied Japan, his "Moshi, Moshi Ano-ne" jingle was sung to the tune of "London Bridge is Falling Down" and became so popular with Japanese children and GIs that the U.S. military’s ''
Stars and Stripes'' newspaper called it "the Japanese occupation theme song." In 1946,
Elsa Maxwell
Elsa Maxwell (May 24, 1883 – November 1, 1963) was an American gossip columnist and author, songwriter, screenwriter, radio personality and professional hostess renowned for her parties for royalty and high society figures of her day.
Maxw ...
referred to Kaner as "the breath of home to unknown thousands of our young men when they were lonely." Back in the United States he was a stand-in for Ed Sullivan on television. Kaner was a former columnist for the ''Long Island Press'', ''N.Y. Daily News'' and ''Western Queens Gazette''. He was also the chairman of the board and founder of the Walter Kaner Children’s Foundation, which was to benefit disadvantaged children. He was married for 50 years to Billie Elliot Kaner until her death on September 29, 2004. Kaner died at his
Port Washington, New York
Port Washington is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the Cow Neck Peninsula in the Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York. The hamlet is the anchor community of the Greater Port Wa ...
home on June 26, 2005.
See also
*
Tokyo Rose
Tokyo Rose (alternative spelling Tokio Rose) was a name given by Allied troops in the South Pacific during World War II to all female English-speaking radio broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. The programs were broadcast in the South Pacific ...
– female propagandists who broadcast for Japan during World War II.
*
Mitsu Yashima
was an artist, children's book author, and civic activist.
World War II and later years
Mitsu was the daughter of a shipbuilding company executive. She attended Kobe College, and later enrolled at Bunka Gakuin in Tokyo. In the 1930s, she join ...
– the American equivalent of Tokyo Rose.
References
External links
Walter Kaner Children’s Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaner, Walter
1920 births
Philanthropists from New York (state)
American male journalists
20th-century American journalists
Long Island Press people
New York Daily News people
2005 deaths
20th-century American philanthropists