Re: The Dean is dead

["tony schinella" <radiotony@attbi.com>]

This is such a drag. I missed Carr but Bruds did a great first two hours
about Williams. Talk radio hasn't been the same since he was pushed out at
WRKO. The worst part about this is all the stories. He had a million
stories. I often wonder why no one tried to sit down with him during the
later years,
with all his tapes, and started to catalog all his thoughts and stories.
What an encyclopedia of interviews and political actions. Jerry got me into
radio.
After calling his show so many times during the 1992 presidential campaign
[I was Jerry Brown's state coordinator], some of my friends told me I should
try to get my own talk show - and I have been doing radio ever since,
although mostly at very small stations. But it doesn't matter. What matters
is that
Jerry's calls to actions got us all involved. We will owe him eternally for
that. I am doing an editorial for my newspaper for Thursday. It is such a
loss.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Nelson" <raccoonradio@yahoo.com>
To: "Gary Francis, WCAP" <gary@afternoonlive.com>;
<boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
Cc: <octa_router@yahoo.com>; <kd8gz@hotmail.com>; <JOEHEDIO@prodigy.net>
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 10:50 AM
Subject: Re: The Dean is dead


>
> --- "Gary Francis, WCAP" <gary@afternoonlive.com>
> wrote:
> > Jerry Williams passed away this morning as Mass
> > General Hospital......
>
> Horrible news--we no longer have the man who helped
> formulate talk radio; the man who kept us company
> at home, work, and on the road; the man who affected
> politics with his on-air advocacy and "muckraking".
>
> I hope to heck that when Howie mentions this on air
> today he won't play the "Ted" laugh...because the Dean
> should not be mocked. And it was the Dean who
> got Howie into "the business".
>
> How can you sum up the man? I only heard him from
> about 1986 on, so I'm sure many of you have memories
> of him in the days before that. But here was a man
> who put his energy into making an interesting
> ("I'm not boring"), entertaining, and informative
> show, in the days before the medium degenerated into
> "Who Do You Want To See Naked On TV". Sure, Howie can
> be entertaining, but when it came to serious (or
> not so serious) talk radio, Jerry was the man. How
> many people out there in the biz can say that Jerry
> was their inspiration (for becoming a talk host),
> and how many listeners out there can relate their
> fond memories of him.
>
> I'm sure there will be many tributes to him, on the
> air, in the papers, and so on. Everyone who grew up in
> this area (and a few select other areas) has a Jerry
> story to tell. It might be about that Vietnam
> soldier who told his tale of the horrors of war.
> Or the many who assembled for rallies against the
> seat belt law or New Braintree. Or, yes, even the
> woman who got a kick out of doing you-know-what
> on top of her washing machine.
>
> Farewell to the Dean of Talk Radio :(
>