Those We Lost
By SCOTT FYBUSH
It’s that time again: at long last, we’ve arrived at the end of a challenging year, both for the industry as a whole and for your editor personally. And that means we take a break from our weekly roundup of industry news for our 21st annual Year in Review edition. Year in Review installments will appear daily all week long through our wrap-up on Saturday, January 3, so check back every day for a new installment. We’ll resume our regular NorthEast Radio Watch report on Monday, January 5, 2015, and Tower Site of the Week is back Friday, January 9, 2015. (And in the meantime, our own Twitter and Facebook feeds and RadioInsight will be here with any breaking news!)
Back to Part Five: The Year’s Top Ten Stories, #5-#1
We wrap up our coverage today, as we always do, by remembering the broadcasters our community lost over the past year:
RICHARD AGER, 60, NH Public TV reporter (Dec. 29, 2013)
BOB GRANT, 84, New York talk legend (Dec. 31, 2013)
GEORGINE TIDMORE, 84, WAVT/WPPA Pottsville PA co-owner (Jan. 3)
KATHERINE “Kitty” BROMAN, 97, WWLP-TV co-owner (Jan. 5)
LLOYD SMITH, 71, Mohawk valley DJ/engineer (Jan. 7)
JEAN CAINE, 90, CHWO Oakville founder (Jan. 8)
JOSEPH RAYBALL, 81, former WARA Attleboro owner (Jan. 11)
AL BONNER, 85, veteran WJLK engineer (Jan. 18)
CARL SILVA, 50, Yankees radio engineer (Jan. 19)
CHET CURTIS, 74, iconic WCVB/NECN anchor (Jan. 22)
BEN BASS, 59, Buffalo engineer (Feb. 3)
RALPH KINER, 91, Mets broadcaster and Hall of Famer (Feb. 6)
PETER DESBARATS, 80, original Global TV anchor (Feb. 11)
BRUCE HOLCOMB, Harrisburg air talent, sports announcer (Feb. 14)
BEN (Shatto) BARBER, 70, Carlisle PA morning man (Feb. 18)
GARRICK UTLEY, 74, NBC anchor, SUNY journalism prof (Feb. 20)
PORKY CHEDWICK, 96, Pittsburgh radio institution (Mar. 1)
JERRY BRENNER, 73, New England record promoter (Feb. 24)
NORM DURKEE, 91, WESX Salem GM (Feb. 28)
DOUG MASCOTT, 49, WMWM DJ (Mar. 5)
JACK ROBERTS, 62, New England DJ/PD (Mar. 7)
GEOFF EDWARDS, 83, WOKO DJ turned game show host (Mar. 5)
DON MOORE, Cape Cod radio owner (Mar. 7)
MORDECAI LIPSHUTZ, 64, WXXI-FM classical host (Mar. 9)
JOE ZINGALE, 80, WFAS co-owner (Mar. 10)
RICHARD HAYES, 84, WMCA, WWDB, WCAU talker (Mar. 10)
DEAN SLACK, 85, WCBA Corning owner (Mar. 12)
DAVE MARTIN, 64, former WHUD jock (Apr. 9)
NORM PETERS (Pohlman), 84, Springfield/Hartford anchor (Apr. 9)
ALBERT “Del” MONACO, 85, WYRK Buffalo ND (Apr. 12)
LEE MARSHALL, 64, CKLW newsman (Apr. 26)
CURT HANSEN, WEBE founder, Cumulus regional VP (Apr. 30)
BEN HOBERMAN, 91, WABC GM/ABC Radio VP (May 3)
KEN STEIN (Steinberg), 76, WPUT Brewster morning man (May 19)
KNOWLTON NASH, 86, CBC anchor desk legend (May 24)
BOB DODENHOFF, 57, former WKLX Rochester owner (May 26)
DAVE HERMAN, 78, WNEW DJ under a legal cloud (May 28)
JOHN RENO, 80, WTIC-TV/WFSB chief engineer (May 28)
TOM TRACY, 85, WNEW music director (May)
BOB TRACY (Taraski), 66, WJET Erie jock (June 3)
KEITH ALAN AUSTIN, western PA jock (June 8)
JIM BRADY (Felton), 67, CFTR/CFGM jock (June 5)
MIKE FOTI, 63, former WGBH engineering director (June 12)
VALERIE GUNDERSON, 59, WGBH executive (June 14)
ALEXANDER TANGER, 94, Marlin Broadcasting founder (June 21)
BOB AUSFELD, 64,veteran Albany market manager (July 13)
PAUL WAINWRIGHT, 56, Hamilton/Niagara DJ (July 15)
BILL STEPHENSON, 85, CFRB sports director (July 22)
ROLLIE JACOBS, 86, WWLP sports director (July 16)
SAMANTHA STEVENS (Nicole Loban), 44, Connecticut DJ (July 28)
JACK PETERSON, 70, New Bedford morning man (July 30)
ED JOYCE, 81, WCBS talent turned CBS News executive (Aug. 2)
STEVE POST, 70, WBAI, WNYC-FM host (Aug. 3)
AL MEREDITH, 68, WCBS-FM newsman (Aug. 15)
DON PARDO, 96, WJAR Providence announcer turned SNL legend (Aug. 17)
DON CANNON (Dominick Canzano), 74, Philadelphia legend (Aug. 22)
DAN DONOVAN (Blaine Harvey), 73, WMEX, WFIL, Minneapolis DJ (Aug. 31)
ROY LEONARD, 83, WHDH/WNAC newsman turned Chicago talk host (Sep. 4)
JOAN RIVERS, 81, comedian, WOR, WPRO talk host (Sep. 4)
BOB KLEIN, 92, WALK, WRIV jock (Sep. 18)
BOB BADGER, 75, DJ and station manager (Sep. 21)
JOHN SLATTERY, 63, WCBS-TV reporter (Sep. 25)
BRUCE GLASIER, 69, Maine sportscaster (Oct. 1)
KEVIN METHENY, 60, WNBC programmer (Oct. 3)
STAN DAVID (Distenfeld), WNYC-FM overnight announcer (Oct.)
DALE DORMAN, 71, Boston morning institution (Oct. 21)
FREDA TARBELL, 65, Erie reporter (Oct. 21)
TOM MAGLIOZZI, Car Talk co-host (Nov. 3)
LOU “Kilroy” MORTON, 88, Connecticut DJ, PD (Nov. 11)
JEFF CHAFITZ, 65, WHAM-TV producer/director (Nov. 19)
BOB CONNERS, 80, WJET, WEEP DJ (Nov. 23)
DONN WUYCIK, 60, WMBA owner (Dec. 2)
BILL PUTNAM, 90, WWLP Springfield founder (Dec. 20)
JOE DEANE (Joseph DiNicola), 74, Rochester, Pittsburgh DJ (Dec. 29)
Did we miss anyone? Drop me a line or a comment and I’ll add them to our list.
Thanks once more to the generous sponsors who’ve helped to make NERW’s Year in Review possible:
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The 2020 Tower Site Calendar will soon be off the press, but orders are already coming in, and we want to keep them coming.
From now through November 11, you can order your copy in advance for 10% off the regular price.
Note to our regular buyers (and our irregular buyers — we love every one of you): This is not this year’s cover, as this year’s calendar is still in production. We promise the real cover will be just as beautiful, if not more.
Have a suggestion for a cover photo? Look through our Tower Site archives, and if you see a beautiful photo we haven’t featured yet, suggest it to us!
Visit our store to buy the new calendar and check out our other products.
Thank you for your hard work and tireless dedication to this news letter despite the personal challenges you and your family faced in the past year. I had the pleasure of speaking with Lisa for the first time around the end of August when you needed assistance from many of us in renewing our accounts do to your site transition. I hope you all have a smoother 2015 and hope to meet you if and when you visit the Boston area again.
Thanks for all your hard work putting NERW together every week! Always a bit of a somber way to end the year in review, especially with so many on this list who were only in their 60s and 70s…or sadly even younger…but it’s also a nice tribute to them and all of their talents to be remembered like this.
Happy New Year to you and your family!
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