OBIT ~ Jerry Williams, dean of talk radio in Boston
Hyfler/Rosner
pioneers of the talk radio format, died Tuesday. He was 79.
Williams died at Massachusetts General Hospital after a long illness, said
Rod Fritz, news director of Boston's WRKO-AM, where Williams hosted a
popular afternoon drivetime program in the 1980s.
"He started doing issues-oriented talk shows back in the 1950s, and it just
blossomed from there," Fritz said of Williams, with whom he worked over two
decades. "He's probably best known for his time in Boston, but he made waves
everywhere he went, Philadelphia, New York, Chicago."
Williams started his radio career in Bristol, Tenn., in 1946 but became
widely known at Boston's WBZ-AM, where he was on the air for eight years
beginning in 1968 to an audience that covered 38 states and Canada.
In 1976, Williams joined WMCA/New York, and the following year he moved to
WWDB/Philadelphia, where he became the first FM talk host, according to the
Web site of the Radio Hall of Fame, where Williams was inducted in 1996. He
founded the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts.
Williams' cantankerous style made him popular among listeners but often
infuriated politicians and public officials. He became an especially harsh
critic of then-Gov. Michael Dukakis.
"I'll remember him best as a gentle man, a curmudgeon, but a gentle man,"
Fritz said. "He never backed down from anything. But even if he didn't like
you, there was a respect there that only comes from a gentleman."
Williams was able to score important interviews, Fritz said, such getting
Malcolm X on his show at a time when the civil rights leader didn't like
talking to the media.
Williams spearheaded many drives, one to repeal the state's mandatory seat
belt law, arguing that the government should not intrude on people's
individual freedoms, Fritz said.
"He was the one of the first people to say when they started construction on
the Big Dig back in the 80s, that this project is a boondoggle; it will
never be finished on time or finished on budget," Fritz said.
Williams, who lived in Marshfield, had been in semi-retirement, with
occasional guest shows, Fritz said.
"People are already calling up to say he's going to be sorely missed, him
and his voice," he said.
Laurie Mann
> Longtime Boston radio talk show host Jerry Williams, considered one of the
> pioneers of the talk radio format, died Tuesday. He was 79.
>
> Williams died at Massachusetts General Hospital after a long illness, said
> Rod Fritz, news director of Boston's WRKO-AM, where Williams hosted a
> popular afternoon drivetime program in the 1980s.
I enjoyed listening to Jerry almost daily when I lived in the Boston
area in the early '80s. While I often didn't agree with him, I found
him interesting and challenging. He was also a pretty good interviewer.
--
** Laurie D. T. Mann *** *** *** ** *** *** http://www.dpsinfo.com **
And if the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex
within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right
to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery.
You have the right to anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our
society?
I would argue yes, it does. It all comes from, I would argue, this right
to privacy that doesn't exist in my opinion in the United States
Constitution
-- Senator Rick Santorum, Republican from Pennsylvania
Rich Clancey
+ Williams started his radio career in Bristol, Tenn., in 1946 but became
+ widely known at Boston's WBZ-AM, where he was on the air for eight years
+ beginning in 1968 to an audience that covered 38 states and Canada.
The source of this story was WBZ, which has a bit of a
bias. Actually, Jerry Williams became widely known in
Chicago first, then came to Boston in about 1957 on WMEX,
where he had a large following for about six years. He
was famous for an encyclopedic knowledge of local
politics, for his ability to argue based on facts instead
of ideology, and for generally keeping a very high level
of intelligence on the air during an era when "keeping it
bland" was the motto of all radio broadcasts.
He returned to Chicago but came back a few years later to
work at WBZ which reaches many more states than the
Chicago outlet. His success on WBZ was largely of the
comeback sort. He also enjoyed a third era of success on
WRKO, a big rival of WBZ, after leaving WBZ, during which
he and a couple of partners set themselves up as the real
Governors as opposed to the Tax and Spend Dukakis
administration.
In his later years he slipped badly, attempting among
other things to replicate the Shock Radio tactics which
are bad enough when done by younger men.
From Jerry Williams I learned how to argue without
shouting, how to support an argument with facts, and when
to stop arguing and go look stuff up. Thanks Jerry.
--
rich clancey r...@world.std.com
King Daevid MacKenzie, UltimaJock!
> Actually, Jerry Williams became widely known in Chicago first [snip] He was
> famous for an encyclopedic knowledge of local politics, for his ability to
> argue based on facts instead of ideology, and for generally keeping a very
> high level of intelligence on the air during an era when "keeping it bland"
> was the motto of all radio broadcasts.
...I have a 1956-or-so WBBM Chicago aircheck of Paul Gibson (who often lived
up to the same description above), who at the end of his half hour promos
Williams' show immediately following...Gibson and Williams at their respective
primes would be a dynamite replacement for the drek that passes for talk radio
on most stations nowadays...
--
King Daevid MacKenzie, UltimaJock!
How Radio is done. No brag, just fact.
heard on The Edge 91.7 WSUW Whitewater WI
BRING BACK THE CLEVELAND SPIDERS!!!