You may know Jean Shepherd from his "A Christmas Story" that shows up on TV every yuletide. Ralphie and Flick (Flick lives!) and the Daisy Red Ryder BB gun. It has become a classic.
I first discovered Shep in the pages of Playboy in the 60s or early 70s (I think). He is one funny guy, but also philosophical in the vein of Mark Twain. Sadly, he left us four years ago. I wish he were around now to comment on what has happened to us and our country.
Here's an excerpt from an article about him and his radio show:
10:15 P.M. The WOR news and weather are out of the way. A bugle sounds, and a sprightly theme song comes trotting on the air. The theme has a double meaning: it is the one that calls the horses to the gate at Aqueduct, and it is the Bahnfrei Overture, composed for an operetta by Eduard Strauss, the only member of the Strauss family who did not make good. Presently, Shepherd's clear, rowdy voice intrudes. "Okay, gang are you ready to play radio? Are you ready to shuffle off the mortal coil of mediocrity? I am if you are." There is a noise like a mechanized Bronx cheer (BRRAPP!)- it is Shepherd blowing his kazoo. At other times he twangs his Jew's-harp (BRROING!). "Yes, you fatheads out there in the darkness, you losers in the Sargasso Sea of existence, take heart, because WOR, in its never ending crusade of public service, is once again proud to bring you--(EROICA SYMPHONY UP)-- The Jean Shepherd Program!"
Afterwards, there are commercials. Shepherd tells his controlman to "push the money button," and a jingle for "Whooppee" beer comes and goes, with Shepherd whistling and humming against it, and asking at its conclusion, "Isn't it wonderful to be able to measure your happiness in empty poptop cans?"
There are evening when Shepherd spends all forty-five minutes letting his mind and tongue dart around this way. Usually, however, he discovers some main track. "That reminds me of something that happened to me when I was a kid," he will say, and is away on a Kid Story. Or, "That reminds me of something that happened to me when I was a yardbird," and he tells an Army Story. "I'm this kid, see? Walkin' around, spittin', havin' a fist fight...you know. well, one day me and Flick and Brunner decide to go in to the Star and Garter." The Star and Garter, he explains, was a burlesque house in Chicago, whispered about by parents on degenerate occasions like New Year's Eve.
http://www.keyflux.com/shep/http://www.flicklives.com/default.aspHear some of Shep's tapes:
http://www.flicklives.com/Mass_Back/mass_back.htm
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