Paul Bartishevich, head of Finger Lakes Productions International, died June 1 [2012] at his home in Trumansburg, N.Y., of an apparent heart attack. He was 53.
FLPI, founded in 1987, produced and distributed daily radio programming to NPR affiliates nationwide as well as more than 120 countries and territories via the Voice of America and American Forces Radio. Popular titles, which reflected Bartishevich’s interest in science, nature and technology, included Bird Watch, Nature Watch, Animal Instincts, Ocean Report, Our Ocean World, EnvironMinute and Microbeworld.
In 1998, FLPI launched the Radio Voyager Network (RVN), which became the first English-language commercial radio network to broadcast throughout Europe. In 2010, it created HearTheAnswer.com, to “educate citizens, young and old, about the importance of science and environmental research and discovery.”
Bartishevich was also known for mentoring young people. Each of his interns was given a copy of Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, an inspirational business text. He also served as a guest lecturer at Cornell University and Ithaca College.
He was born in Lyons, N.Y., son of Charles and Ruth (Austin) Bartishevich. He began his “lifelong love affair with broadcast radio at Lyons High School,” his obituary in the Ithaca Journal said, “where he learned to modulate a sonorous authoritative presence behind the microphone reciting the school’s morning announcements.” He married Karen Youngs, his high school sweetheart, in 1984; she survives him.
Also surviving are four children, Benn, Jay, Alec and Anna Bartishevich; his mother, Ruth Bartishevich; brother, Sergei (Paula) Bartishevich; sister, Lynne (Loren) Maslyn; five nieces and nephews; and numerous cousins.
He was preceded in death by his father and a brother, Richard Bartishevich.
A memorial service took place June 7 at the First Presbyterian Church of Ulysses in Trumansburg, with burial following in Grove Cemetery. The family suggests memorial donations to the American Red Cross, 201 West Clinton St., Ithaca, NY 14850, or the American Cancer Society, 13 Beech St., Johnson City, NY 13790.