AJ BEIRENS
1947 - 2020
RIP

It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of our friend A.J Beirens on 26-6-2020.

A.J Beirens, for those who do not remember, was the host of the famous programme broadcast from the short wave transmitters on Radio Nordsee International's ship Mebo II in the early 1970s.

Regularly, for almost four years, each Sunday morning, thousands of listeners around the world were listening to "Northsea Goes Dx" presented in several languages by A.J. Beirens.

In 1974, the French branch of the Free Radio Campaign, which had just been created, published its first issue in French called Offshore Echo's France. Around twenty copies were published and one was sent to A.J Beirens, who mentioned it in his programme.

And so the great adventure of Offshore Echo's began. Listeners contacted OEF in large numbers. Among them, Baudouin Dom, André Blondeau and many others who will become the pillars of the new association, renamed shortly afterwards as France Radio Club.

AJ would kindly continue to promote the OEF newsletter (not yet a magazine!), especially issue number 2, which he promoted in French, with the help of Robin Banks.

AJ got us started and 46 years later, we are still here and it is our painful mission to inform our readers of the departure of the one to whom we owe so much.

A Tribute to a radio lover who lost his fight against cancer, and who chose to leave with dignity…

Thank you AJ, we will never forget you.

There is an interview that our friend Baudouin carried out with AJ in the fall of 1984 in the subscribers section of our website.

                                        François, Chris and AJ at Radio Dynamo in 1994