Steven R. Kates
Biographical Information

Steve Kates-- "Dr.Sky" has been engaged in the science of Astronomy for well over thirty years, having got his first experiences while a young man from his parents, Bob and Dolores. His first true observations occurred while just seven years old, viewing the moon and planets in a ten dollar telescope provided by family members. The first real event he saw, was the 1966 Leonid meteor shower from his home in New York City, atop a tall building. This encouraged him to make the SKY his passion and has been so ever since.

Starting in film and television and at a young age, Steve Kates has worked in many acting and model roles for major studios and had some roles in TV commercials of the 1960"s, through his agent. While a native of New York City, Steve Kates moved to the suburbs of New Jersey in 1967 and found the night sky once again. Having formed the Hackensack Astronomy Club, he and his friends did lots of research on the night sky and were regular contributors to the popular magazine, "Sky and Telescope", specializing in Lunar /Solar observations and Meteor Astronomy.

During his days as a student at Paramus Catholic High, he began teaching an accredited class in Astronomy for credit. Once again, Steve had the public in mind when he and a group of fellow students had one of the largest public gatherings in NJ during the time of the late, and not so great comet, Comet Kohoutek in 1973! During his college days, Steve began his broadcasting career with a weekly update on radio station WBAI in New York, producing "Skywatch," which still remains on the air to this day with host Robert Knight of the exciting program "Earthwatch" heard on WBAI on Wednesday evenings at midnight.

"Dr.Sky" also had a regular class on Astronomy on station WFDU in Teaneck, New Jersey, along with weekly reports on WFUV (Fordham University) and the popular rock radio station WDHA 105.5 FM, for which he served for well over ten years in his popular drive time "SkyReport. On the television side, he has worked with CNN as a special correspondent during the early days of 1982 (New York) bureau and has provided content for the superstation WWOR in NJ.

One of the most memorable events was his planning of a major "Halley's Comet Watch" in 1986, from High Point State Park in NJ, for well over 5,000 people atop this small spot in NJ. This was covered heavily by the media.

Having moved to Arizona in 1988, Steve Kates-- "Dr.Sky" has continued to promote his love of the night sky and aviation/space science topics. He has formed a company known as Sky Source, which is the foundation of Sky Source Productions, specializing in video and audio programs on many special interest topics in the realm of Astronomy/Aerospace.

Locally, Steve Kates-- "Dr.Sky" can be seen on a regular basis on such programs as 3TV's "Good Morning Arizona" and Fox 10's "Arizona Morning", sharing the secrets of the night sky and other related events. In the radio realm-- Steve Kates has been a contributor to such programs as KFYI's Wake Up Arizona and has been a regular with KXAM's 1310 AM radio personality Bill Straus, "Straus' Place."

"Dr.Sky" has also been a guest numerous times on the popular morning radio program known as "Beth and Bill on KEZ and with the evening drive time duo" Maggie and Marty" also on KEZ 99.9 FM in Phoenix. "Dr.Sky" makes the rounds on the Arizona News Radio Network, heard on some 20 radio stations throughout Arizona. Call George Tanner at 602-266-2882 for a listing of stations and times and sponsorship rates.

"Dr.Sky" continues to promote the events in the sky with a recent public event centered around such films as "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon" while showing well over 5,000 interested fans, the connection between asteroids and impacts on earth. "Keep your Eyes to the Skies"

Steve Kates-- "Dr.Sky" lives in Phoenix and feels that this is one of the most wonderful places in world to view the sky and travels with friends to a "secret" location once a month in the SW of Arizona's deserts to continue that special bond with the night sky.

Steve and his brother Joe are active with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in the Special Forces Unit and help to fight crime in the sixth largest metro area in the nation.

My personal interest is to work on helping to see donations come to the Lions Club in the special area of helping people with all types of visual disabilities attain the help and comfort that they need in keeping one of the most precious senses, sight, knowing how wonderful the experience is to see the wonders of the SKY. Sight is precious!

Always remember to keep your eyes to the skies--

Steve Kates -- "Dr.Sky"

Other Steve Kates Information

http://www.astronomyoutreach.net/referral.d/index.html

http://www.ladybugbooks.com/ttn/skyframe.htm