Leo earned his amateur radio license W9GFQ in 1928 after a run in with the feds for unlicensed broadcasting on the AM bands for three months. When the zero call area came into being, he changed to W0GFQ. After college, Leo’s father encouraged him to enter the family grocery business but after several years, Leo sought his independence and opened his first ham radio and electronics store naming it "Wholesale Radio Laboratories."

World War II curtailed the activities of ham radio forcing Leo to seek an alternative vocation. He found this by producing hundreds of thousands of quartz crystals for the military for which he received the coveted Army Navy production "E" award for achievement in producing materials for the war. After the war, Leo restarted the ham radio business under the slightly new name of "World Radio Laboratories" (WRL).

This begins what I like to term, "the golden age of amateur radio." With the technology developed during the war, numerous companies began producing very fine ham radio equipment.

Leo joined "The Rise of the Boatanchors" by hiring engineers to design transmitters for the burgeoning market. Under the "Globe" brand, World Radio Laboratories sold numerous models the best known of which was the Globe Scout that sold over 50,000 units during its lifetime. In an interview I asked about receivers. Expressing regret, Leo responded that he could never find an engineer capable of designing a receiver that he was comfortable in marketing.

Asked about his successful marketing and advertising, Leo wanted to personalize his company. Each day he went in the shipping department to sign every invoice with "Thanks, 73s, Leo W0GFQ." One of his most successful advertising ventures was the production of his US map of ham regions of which he distributed over 750,000 copies.

Conversing with Leo Meyerson is a historic walk through this golden age. He speaks affectionately of friends such as Art Collins, Bill Halligan of Hallicrafters, Robert Drake, Faust Gonset, Lloyd Hammarlund, Bob Henry, Jim Millen and National Radio engineers Fred Drake and Glen Browning. He related conversations with Herb Johnson of Swan Electronics and Edgar F. Johnson of the Viking brand. Even though many of these men were competitors, to his credit, Leo never speaks negatively of anyone. Sometimes a smile or hesitation reveals an undeclared recollection but Leo just moves on to the next subject.

More than an icon to amateur radio, Leo Meyerson is an icon to American Citizenship. Leo capitalized on the freedoms we share as Americans to build businesses, create useful products and generate employment. It is the Leo Meyersons that make this such a great country.