Entertainer. For over fifty years the morning host on popular Providence, Rhode Island radio station WPRO; from 1955 to 1968 host of "Salty's Shack," a live broadcast children's program. Born Walter Leslie Brian in Boston, he attended Staley College for Radio in Brookline, Mass., graduating in 1941 with a Bachelor of Arts in Oratory, and joining radio stations in Boston and Salem, Mass. In 1943 he began his fifty-year career with WPRO as morning announcer on the news program called the 'TNT Review,' short for "Time, News and Temperature." Nicknamed "Walt the Salt," his radio name became "Salty." Beginning in 1955 WPRO Television broadcast a children's show called "Salty Brine's Shack," Televised live, the show, with a nautical theme, featured Brine and his collie, "Jeff," which ran until the station changed ownership. He became a member of the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1979, and was selected as 'Person of the Year' in 1988 by the Rhode Island Advertising Club, due to favorable response to his presentation of product advertisements. Though retired from regular radio broadcasting in April, 1993, he continued doing local television commercials. A warm, friendly man on and off the air; dedicated to children, the handicapped (himself losing a leg, the result of a severe injury at age ten) the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and Rhode Island's own "Save The Bay." Frequently after his broadcasts Brine would visit hospitals to see children and encouraging people dispirited over the loss of a limb. Along with his beloved collie, he would always close his television program with a spirited, "Brush your teeth and say your prayers! Say 'goodnight,' Jeff!"
Entertainer. For over fifty years the morning host on popular Providence, Rhode Island radio station WPRO; from 1955 to 1968 host of "Salty's Shack," a live broadcast children's program. Born Walter Leslie Brian in Boston, he attended Staley College for Radio in Brookline, Mass., graduating in 1941 with a Bachelor of Arts in Oratory, and joining radio stations in Boston and Salem, Mass. In 1943 he began his fifty-year career with WPRO as morning announcer on the news program called the 'TNT Review,' short for "Time, News and Temperature." Nicknamed "Walt the Salt," his radio name became "Salty." Beginning in 1955 WPRO Television broadcast a children's show called "Salty Brine's Shack," Televised live, the show, with a nautical theme, featured Brine and his collie, "Jeff," which ran until the station changed ownership. He became a member of the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1979, and was selected as 'Person of the Year' in 1988 by the Rhode Island Advertising Club, due to favorable response to his presentation of product advertisements. Though retired from regular radio broadcasting in April, 1993, he continued doing local television commercials. A warm, friendly man on and off the air; dedicated to children, the handicapped (himself losing a leg, the result of a severe injury at age ten) the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and Rhode Island's own "Save The Bay." Frequently after his broadcasts Brine would visit hospitals to see children and encouraging people dispirited over the loss of a limb. Along with his beloved collie, he would always close his television program with a spirited, "Brush your teeth and say your prayers! Say 'goodnight,' Jeff!"
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