The "Jerome From Manhattan" Mystery

[Jim Burns]

As listeners to sports-talk know, the great Jerome has been missing from
the airwaves for well over a year now, and maybe even closer to two...

As we approach WFAN's 25th Anniversary, I'm hoping that we can finally
figure out what happened to him...

Somewhere along the way, in a funny story that I'll tell another time,
Jerome got my phone number, and I became part of his phone list: he'd
call sports talk, he'd call the newsrooms, he'd call me...

It was never really a problem, until he started leaving twenty
messages... I simply had to explain to him that all he had to do was
leave one, and I'd get back to him when I could!

The important thing to remember about Jerome is that he almost always
meant well.

For those who have worried, and commented here, that there were
sports-talk hosts who exploited him and his excesses...

It's also important to know that Jerome LOVED calling shows. It brought
him joy, maybe some of the only pleasure he'd have in a given day.

And he can turn the explosiveness on and off! We'd be chatting, and he'd
suddenly go, if he wished, into his shtick...

(I've often wondered what it was like being one of Jerome's neighbors,
as he was doing a sports rant, in his Upper Westside apartment!
;-) 

Of course Jerome had his problems. Ones that were well documented on the
air. I'm not sure how happy his life was, particularly after his Mom
died a few years back.

(And for those who have wondered, Jerome's looks are actually
unexpected: As a YES profile revealed about ten years ago, he actually
resembles Peter Boyle...)

Jerome had physical health issues as well, occasionally, as those who
remember his famous calls with Jody McDonald and Sid Rosenberg from his
hospital bed can attest!

I'd call Jerome once every couple of weeks or so, checking in, trying to
cheer him up, seeing if he needed anything. (Occasionally, I'd send him
videos, or 3 Stooges stuff, or what he really liked, intriguingly,
notebooks--even though I pointed out that he could pick those up
himself, at any CVS or Duane Reade near him!).

There was an odd scarey moment a couple of years ago, when an ambulance
service called me, to tell me that Jerome was in the hospital. He had
put me on his "To be called..." list.

There had been some talk, then and before, that one or more of his
doctors felt that calling sports radio might be too stressful for him,
that it was actually, possibly causing a risk to his heart.

It wasn't too long thereafter that Jerome went missing.

His phone was disconnected...

I finally sent a letter to his address, with the note on front that
whomever receive the letter, to please forward it to him... I sent
another note, just explaining that it would be nice to be in touch with
Jerome, wherever he was...

No response of any kind.

And no one at WFAN, or elsewhere, seemed to have any real idea of what
had happened.

There's no blame to be had for anyone in sports talk not wanting to get
involved with finding Jerome. I myself was hesitant: I didn't want to
bug his family, and for those who have followed Jerome, there's been
some controversy with how Jerome can get into arguements with some
folks, relations and otherwise...

Finally, I called an uncle of Jerome's in California, whom he had once
asked me to get in touch with, years earlier... I apologized for
troubling him, and explained the situation. He told me that if Jerome
had died, he was pretty sure he would have heard about it, but
otherwise--except for his sister having moved from Manhattan--he didn't
know what was going on...

That was last summer.
Steve Somers might have the key to this. Jerome's cousin, a gal in the
Bronx or Yonkers, used to call his show, and Somers used to have her
number.

My only concern is that if Jerome is in a hospital or some such, and the
doctors have decided it's too potentially troubling to him to have
anything to do with anyone in any way involved with sports talk...

Well, I would question the judgement of anyone deciding to take away one
of the few things that gave a person joy. But that wouldn't be mine, or
necessarily anyone else's business.

But it would be nice to have an address to send a "care package" to once
in a while. I know there are also people at the station(s) who would
like to send Jerome a card, and whatever.

One of Jerome's key problems was he didn't know that he wasn't alone.
I'd have to explain to him how much he was actually beloved by many in
the sports audience.

Whatever you think of him, it's impossible not to concede that "Jerome
From Manhattan" was part of our sports radio landscape for well over a
decade.

WFAN, Sporting News Radio, and who knows who else used to even include
"Jerome cuts" in some of their on-air station blurbs!

I've hesitated to write all this here, obviously, since Jerome went
missing.

It's all, to put it mildly, an odd situation, of which my knowing any of
this is just one very small element.

Maybe somebody already knows the answer.

Perhaps Jerome's in a place now where he's been taught that there are
plenty of great ways to interact with the world around him.

But I'm haunted by the idea of Jerome alone somewhere, thinking that
those who cared about him, have all forgotten, or gone away...

And maybe someone who reads this, can help.

Best, Jim Burns


(From the New York Radio Message Board, June, 2012)

[Yo Yo Yo Booey]

Jesus H Christ but you have some anal crush on this faggot weirdo Jerome.

He was a blight on the FAN.

FIgures he would be living in the liberal infested upper west side.
Probably a kike.

Fuck em all.

[O'Bob]

On Thu, 28 Jun 2012 15:20:04 -0400, james...@webtv.net (Jim Burns)
wrote:

>
>As listeners to sports-talk know, the great Jerome has been missing from
>the airwaves for well over a year now, and maybe even closer to two...
>
>As we approach WFAN's 25th Anniversary, I'm hoping that we can finally
>figure out what happened to him...

...

>It wasn't too long thereafter that Jerome went missing.
>
>His phone was disconnected...
>
>I finally sent a letter to his address, with the note on front that
>whomever receive the letter, to please forward it to him... I sent
>another note, just explaining that it would be nice to be in touch with
>Jerome, wherever he was...

Hi Jim, If you're the same Jim Burns that calls FAN once in a while,
I enjoy your comments. Always interesting.

Jerome was unbelievable, alternating between amusing and "WTF!?", and
I came to appreciate him in some strange way. I hope he's OK.

It occurred to me that his building's super or rental agent may know
something. Not sure how you'd contact them, short of visiting the
upper west side or appealing to someone close by. Maybe sending a
self-addressed envelope to "Manager" at the address would work. But
you've probably thought of all those things.

BTW, you sound like the same voice-over guy as the "most interesting
man in the world" which is one of the greatest ad concepts ever.

[Hass]

On Jul 1, 2:44 am, O'Bob <O'...@nospam.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 28 Jun 2012 15:20:04 -0400, jameshbu...@webtv.net (Jim Burns)

He's probably with Doris from Rego Park...

[Jim Burns]

Thanks for the kind words, "O'Bob"!

I just hope this story has a happy ending.

[Uncle Abogado®]

On Thu, 28 Jun 2012 15:20:04 -0400, james...@webtv.net (Jim Burns)
wrote:

I always felt kind of sorry for Jerome. Admittedly, I found his
schtick rather annoying, but he was harmless enough -- just a pathetic
shlub who didn't seem to realize (or perhaps didn't care) that he was
being exploited for laughs by so many of the FAN hosts. I can't say
that I miss his presence on the station, but I do hope that he's okay
and that someone is looking after him.

[ruben safir]

On Wed, 04 Jul 2012 09:59:26 -0400, Uncle Abogado® wrote:

> rom the New York Radio Message Board, June, 2012)
>
> I always felt kind of sorry for Jerome. Admittedly, I found his
> schtick rather annoying, but he was harmless enough -- just a pathetic
> shlub who didn't seem to realize (or perhaps didn't care) that he was
> being exploited for laughs by so many of the FAN hosts. I can't say
> that I miss his presence on the station, but I do hope that he's okay
> and that someone is looking after him.

That is the right analysis and is a large part of the reason why they
finally stopped taking his calls. I think they pushed him over the edge.

[Jim Burns]

Forgive the correction:

But this Jerome disappearance is just too sad--and hopefully
solvable--to inadvertantly create a rumor:

They NEVER stopped taking Jerome's calls--

Except for those relatively short periods when he'd be suspended
(usually, for the sudden unintentional explosion of a cuss-word during a
rant!)...


Jerome, literally, one day, just had his phone disconnected, no response
to mail, and was gone from all those airwaves.

[Zoysgha]

Nobody really cares.

He was a lunatic.

He's probably dead.

So is Elvis.

[roberta...@gmail.com]

Any info on him yet

[filthyha...@gmail.com]

He has passed away.

[the Thomas J]

Link to obituary?