The Fanatic (novel)

The Fanatic is a novel written by the Scottish author James Robertson, first published in 2000.

Overview

The book progresses along two lines. The first is historical and deals with the events of the Scottish Covenanters of the 17th Century. The second thread tells the story of a tourist guide (Andrew Carlin) in devolution-era Edinburgh, whose interest in the character he portrays leads to his study and obsession with two men: James Mitchel, a Protestant fanatic, convinced of a deep connection with God; and Major Thomas Weir, a presbyterian hardliner who was executed in 1670 for supposed witchcraft. The novel was Robertson's first major work and showed early signs of the success that was to follow in Joseph Knight and The Testament of Gideon Mack.

List of main characters

Information

Andrew Carlin works as a ghost on a nightly tour of Old Edinburgh. With Stick, cape and rubber rat he pretends to be the spirit of Major Weir, a religious extremist burnt at the stake in 1670. Carlin's research into Weir draws him into the past and, in particular, to James Mitchel, a 'justified sinner', imprisoned in 1674 for the attempted assassination of the Archbishop of St Andrews. Through the story of Carlin and Mitchel, The Fanatic reveals an extraordinary history of Scotland: a tale of betrayals, stolen meetings, lost memories, smuggled journeys and disguised identities.

WPEN (FM)

WPEN (97.5 FM, "97.5 The Fanatic") is a radio station owned by Greater Media. Licensed to Burlington, New Jersey, it currently broadcasts a sports format to the Philadelphia metropolitan area. It has studios located in Bala Cynwyd and broadcasts from a transmitter site in Wyndmoor.

History

WTOA

The 97.5 frequency was originally allocated to Trenton, New Jersey. The station there began test broadcasts on January 10, 1949, then official operations on April 19, 1949, as WTOA. It was owned by the Mercer Broadcasting Company, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trenton Times newspaper. WTOA started out broadcasting from 3 pm to 11 pm, with an ERP of 14,500 watts. Its original coverage area reached as far north as Queens, NY and as far west as Reading PA.

By the late 1960s, the station had been acquired by Nassau Broadcasting. Its call letters were changed to WPST on September 13, 1971.

WPST

The WPST calls originally stood for "Passport Stereo Trenton," a slogan of the station at the time. WPST is known for its mainstream CHR format, which they've had for many years. Tom Taylor was the PD who launched the format in the mid-1970s, and did mornings on the station until 1987. In August 1975, owner Herb Hobler hired Phil Gieger as the General Manager. Along with Tom Taylor, they revamped the station and coined the phrase, "From The Shore To The Poconos, The Music Is On The FM 97.5 WPST." They initially established an Adult Rock format, and by the Fall of 1975, the station took off and eventually became the number one station in the market. Some WPST DJ's over the years included John Mellon (aka Walt Ballard), Ed Johnson, Doug James, John Brown, Eddie Davis, Trish Merelo, Andy Gury, Brian Douglas, Mel "Toxic" Taylor, Jay Sorensen, Dave Hoeffel, Tom Cunningham, Michelle Stevens, Eric Johnson, Mark Sheppard, Andre Gardner, Phil Simon, Steve Trevelise, Joel Katz, Rich DeSisto, Lee Tobin, Steve Kamer, Lori Johnson, Mark DiDia, Bob Sorrentino, and Scott Lowe.