Bill Riley on the Air and at the Iowa State Fair

Many know Bill Riley as Mr. Iowa State Fair, the voice of the Drake Relays or the force behind the Bill Riley Talent Search. He wore all of those hats, along with countless more. An Iowan through and through, Bill worked tirelessly on behalf of the state's outdoor spaces and young people, raising money for bike trails and the Des Moines Children's Zoo, later known as the Blank Park Zoo. In the last years of his life, he collected these memories from a career stretching back to the debut of television in the Hawkeye State.

Bill Riley Senior spent sixty years in radio and television and at the Iowa State Fair. He was the founder of the Bill Riley Talent Search that is now in its fifty-seventh year. Many people knew him as "Mr. Iowa State Fair" or the "Voice of the Drake Relays."

Heather Torpy is the vice-president of the Bill Riley Talent Search. Before that, she was at the CBS affiliate in Des Moines, KCCI, for twelve years. Heather's writing can also be found in the Des Moines Register.