Hello, Jerry? (was: Talk shows through the ages)

[Bill O'Neill]

Kevin Vahey wrote:
> My mother listened to WHDH around the clock but when Jerry came on she
> would tune to 1510.
>
>   

This reminds me of my recent click-over to http://www.jerrywilliams.org  
There are some wonderful audio archives of Jerry stored there that I 
highly recommend. I clicked on some of his Chicago shows and sort of got 
lost in my work as the show ran in the background.  I found myself in 
old territory, working away at the desk while 'The Dean' was making 
great radio happen all over again, and taking names.  Chicago was 
unfamiliar territory to Jerry but to listen to even his Chicago debut, 
it was clear that he was going to be a key player in Daley country.  
That debut cut should be mandatory listening to students of the craft, 
as Jerry lays out, for the vast Chicago radio audience, just what talk 
radio was, how they would fit into it, and the rules of the road.

I think it is important that when we look back on talents like Jerry 
that we remind ourselves that he was not only good but that he was 
blazing that trail.  His archived stuff still holds up.

Bill O'Neill