Triple Pass

Winters are hard.

Seems like more people pass away during the colder weather months than the warmer months. I wonder if statistics bare this out.

This winter has been most sad for radio folks. Three people, all radio people, who I was somehow connected with, passed on this winter. All three of them had some form of cancer. The "C-word" - the word that worries us all. All three of these individuals suffered - undeniably - through their illness.

There's definitely a sense of personal loss, and perhaps for me, even guilt associated for each of these passings. All and all, I wish I'd have paid more attention to each one of these individuals while they were still here with us.

Fred Horton - I never met him. But my friend Cary Pall spoke so highly of him so often, that I wished I had. Fred was one of those radio guys who would get into a station - one that was a real dog - and clean it up, get it sounding good despite the odds and turn it around. One outstanding example was WRUN Utica NY. The station had a great signal, but was a dog. Fred came in, tightened it up and quickly the station became a winner. (And incidentally, it slipped back to bein' a dog after he left.) Anoter station Horton fixed was WGNA Albany. That stations success as a tight highly produced Country station continues on to this day. Fred was also at WDRC, WYNY, WGNA, WTRY, WXTA, WGXK Memphis, TN, and WBEE FM Rochester. Horton was only in his mid 50's when he passed.

Jess Cain - Boston morning man and radio legend, the ultimate gentleman and listeners friend. His morning show on WHDH was filled with down right hilarity and subtle dignified humor. His 33 year reign started in the late 1950;s and ended in the early 90's. He was the kind of radio personality that regular listeners, after he retired, actually mourned his leaving. Cain was in a category of his own, although he also is in the category Boston greats, like Larry Glick, Carl deSuze, Gary LaPierre and Dale Dorman.

Gary Zoehfeld - Hudson Valley radio guy and super market cashier. I first heard Gary on WHUC Hudson, NY in about 1972. Incredibly, he replaced a guy named "Bob Evans" aka Al Bandiero. Upon hearing Gary, my reaction was wow - who is this guy? He sounded WAY BIGGER than Hudson NY. Like Bill Bailey on WLS. Ended up that Gary had been at WKNY in Kingston NY prior. I got to know Gary through buddy Neil Young. Gary was eccentric - a collector of stuff - radio and otherwise. Mostly, he loved radio. His radio career stretched the Hudson Valley and Albany areas on WSNY, WTRY and WPTR and he branched out to Connecticut and Western MA to work at WSPR, WAQY and WDRC. He lived his last 20 years in the Woodstock NY area and worked at WHVW, WHUD and at the Grand Union supermarkets in Woodstock and Tannersville NY. He bravely fought lung cancer for 2 1/2 years. He was sincerely touched by the support he got toward the end of his life from folks at WDST, WHUD, the Grand Union - and from that group of guys who worked with him at WHUC, all those years ago.

Spring can't come fast enough.