Baker's pretty well steeped in radio, show business and journalism. A onetime college editor at the University of Iowa, he hooked up as manager and offstage partner with the underground alternative Iowa comedy troupe, Duck's Breath Mystery Theatre, as the quintet moved to San Francisco 25 years ago in search of fame, fortune and middle age. "So far," notes Baker, "we're one for three."

Baker's pretty well steeped in radio, show business and journalism. A onetime college editor at the University of Iowa, he hooked up as manager and offstage partner with the underground alternative Iowa comedy troupe, Duck's Breath Mystery Theatre, as the quintet moved to San Francisco 25 years ago in search of fame, fortune and middle age. "So far," notes Baker, "we're one for three."

Duck's Breath toured nationally with its acclaimed Monty Python-esque screwball humor, although Hollywood producers were mostly baffled at what to do with the absurdist troupe. During the 1980s, they became a mainstay on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" and then began spewing their own satirical features like "Ask Dr. Science" (heard on 40 stations, including KVMR, Mondays, 5 p.m.), the Shoales essays and "Homemade Radio."

 Baker's teenaged daughter, Molly, lives in Sacramento with her mother. Molly's an award-winning Irish step-dancer, avid reader, and spirited participant in all she does. "Molly's got the makings of a good program director," he smiles. "Whether it's bugs, pets, step-dancing or Harry Potter, she knows what she likes and she throws herself into it completely."