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Meed,Pete
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1960
On the Radio |
Comments:
I Became aware of your site, last night 12/21/03, while listening to "20th Century Radio" Show on WCBM-AM 680, Baltimore, MD.
I, heard Shep remark in an interview:
when asked, if he ever considered returning to radio,
"I'll put it to you this way, the money I made from one movie, was more than I made in all my years on the radio..."
The years I listened on WOR, Jean Shepherd spun tales with passion and wit. I hope to learn more here, I was amused to learn that he actually was "out at transmitter!"
I haven't been able to find the version of "Bon Friel Polka" (Strauss) which was Sheps Theme Song.
I wonder if he added the horse winney? I can't imagine how many times I pulled over the covers and waited for that unique sound.
Thanks for your effort. I shall be putting time asside to explore your undertaking.
Pete Meed
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Roman,John
Abingdon
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1969
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Comments:
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LaVance,Bud
Annapolis
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1957
On the Radio |
Comments:
So I'm not the only one who wore out many a battery on my old transistor radio hiding it under my pillow or being distracted from my homework till all hours of the night back in the late 50's and early 60's. In the late 80's I was in Maine and a member of the Maine Home Builders Association. We wanted to find a copy of the film Phantom of the Open Hearth to show at our organization Christmas party, since I thought all the builders would love it. I think had the episode with the do-it-yourself home kit arriving by boxcar and all the friends (with many cases of beer) helping unload it to help put it together, but the beer got the best of them and the closing scene of that particular episode showed the lumber and prospective builders scattered all over the train yard among the beer cans. We tried finding a copy everywhere to no avail. Then about a month later we found out Shep lived practically next door in Waterville, Maine. He probably could have gotten us a copy or even been a guest speaker at our gathering! Oh well....Excelsior!
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Feinstein,Steve
Annapolis
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1967
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Comments:
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Weinstock,David
Baltimore
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1959
On the Radio |
Comments:
A small voice in the back of my mind still reminds me of tales with Flick, Schwartz and Brunner, and evenings of Haiku. Maybe my life has been small, but those were some of the best moments of my addled adolesence.
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Marsh,Chas
Baltimore
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1969
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Comments:
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Whittlesey,Lorraine
Baltimore
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1966
On the Radio |
Comments:
Thanks to Joe Wall for his link and a reminder of how good radio broadcasting can truly. be
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deLeyer,Julian
Baltimore
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1987
Saw One of His Movies |
Comments:
My family have enjoyed ollie hopnoddle and christmas story for quite a while now. I saw Ollie Hopnoddle on PBS and related to this story, I also taped the show, then ran it with the whole family (wife & 2 kids who were about 13 and 11 back then)We have rerun this tape many times and it's just a good simple story. Christmas Story is excellent to. Was there another one about 4th of July ...I remember seeing this on PBS a long time ago, but haven't seen it since.
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Shapiro,Burt
Baltimore
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1974
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Comments:
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Kleban,Joe
Baltimore
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1958
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Comments:
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Krauson,Stan
Baltimore
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1956
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Comments:
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Stewart,Drew
Baltimore originally Philadelphia
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1963
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Comments:
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Al Elieff,Lois and Al
Bethesda
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1960
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Comments:
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Kuffel,Mike
Bowie
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1992
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Comments:
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Killen,Bill Killen
Bowie
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1967
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Comments:
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Rockmore,Mark
Columbia
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1960
On the Radio |
Comments:
Like many other 'Boomers' I used to listen to Shep under the covers at home on the South Shore of Nassau County,NY with my tranistor radio tuned to WOR. Earlier I used to listen to Long John Nebel and his guests who were the earliest 'abductees' from alien visitors et al. With Jean, I always enjoyed his tales of his summer working at the steel works, as when the gondola car tipped over and molten metal consumed the Tin Plate shop, or the rats (decribed as 'footballs with legs') that ate through the Coke machine. Following that his Army days dealing with that secret weapon RADAR which would fry you if you were too close to the power source. Of course, his stories of Flick, Schwartz, and Wanda Hickey still live in the printed word. His readings of the poems of Robert Service were insipiring. His radio ads for Volvo, or Prexy's (The hamburger with a college education) I can still hear in the ol'cabeza. Shep even had a few short 30min. shows on WORTV Ch.9 in the early 60's where he had the talent of playing music on his head, for one.
Shep was truly a brillant ad hoc story-teller, a skill that cannot be found today on US radio. Excelsior, You fatheads!
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Pohle,Tim
cumberland
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1970
On the Radio |
Comments:
Listen on wor radio
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Schmidt,Gary
Dunkirk
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1970
Saw his TV show |
Comments:
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Sheehan,Robert
Frederick
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1968
On the Radio |
Comments:
Listened to Shep late at nite in the latter part of the 1960s, along with Barry Farber, at WOR. He was often spoken of favorably by WBAI personalities such as Steve Post, Bob Fass, and Larry Josephson and touted as their inspiration. Radio became pretty unlistenable after the free form talk era ended, which really had its hey day in NYC radio for a while and was practically invented by the likes of Jean Shepherd. The radio suits said it was self-indulgent boring radio. However, all of the pre-programmed music and asinine telephone talk that replaced it was what really ruined a wonderful medium.
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Manwiller,Kurt
Frederick
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1968
On the Radio |
Comments:
As a kid I would lay in bed in the dark and tune around on my Japanese transistor radio to try to see what I could find. I found Sheperd fading in and out on WOR. For quite a while I didn't know who he was - just when and where he was on the dial. Later NPR syndicated his shows, and I listened to them on FM without all the static. Like many - I was greatly influenced during my formative years, and perhaps never took anything seriously - or at least without a grain of salt as a result. Now I have all the books, and as of a couple of years ago - about 900 of the shows in MP3 format. I think that I was pretty lucky to have him there when I needed him...as do many others. Excelsior !
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Kennedy,Hal
Gaithersburg
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1960
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Comments:
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Spiegel,Jayson
Gaithersburg
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1969
On the Radio |
Comments:
One of my fondest memories growing up is listening to Jean Shepherd on WOR on a green transistor radio. I still order Bloody Charlies and sing "The Bear Missed the Train" at Jewish wedding. Shepherd is timeless. My 16 year old son actually ignored Play Station so he could finish reading In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash.
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Richard,Richard
Gaithersburg
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1963
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Comments:
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Dumbrowsy,Henry
Gambrills
Maryland
Shep fan since:
2003
On the Radio |
Comments:
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Dumbrowsky,Henry
Gambrills
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1978
Saw his TV show |
Comments:
Whats the story about Jennatte ?
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Manon,Gene
Hagerstown
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1956
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Comments:
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Smith,David
Hagerstown
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1972
On the Radio |
Comments:
The first time I watched the video of Christmas Story
I thought "Wow, that's Jean Shepherd." It reminded
me of growing up here in the 50's, department stores,
decorated downtown, dad cursing the old light strings
that went off when one burned out, the weird smelling
Lifebuoy soap my grandmother used. My mother wouldn't
let me have an air gun either. She was afraid that I
would shoot somebody else's eye out.
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LeHardy,Nelson
Hagerstown
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1989
Saw One of His Movies |
Comments:
Nice to know others share fond memories and a liking of Jeans' wonderful stories.
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purcell,david
jessup
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1972
Read his Playboy short stories |
Comments:
I've been a fan and follower for quite a while. There is one
short story that I once read that I've never been able to find again. I seem to recall the title as "Pearl's bamboo
hut" and it was one of his WWII experiences. It was an account of him and his buddies visiting a strip joint. I
thought it was in Playboy but I haven't found it in any back issue or listed in any index. Any help on when and where it was published would be greatly appreciated.
on a different note I once lived in Chicago and back in the
80's I stopped at Flick's Tap in Hammond to discover something about Jean Shepherd and Flick went into a rage,
saying he barely knew Shepherd and he made up all those
stories and just used his name (in vain, I guess). The incident bothered me for a while because Flick was saying
Shepherd was a liar and a phony. I finally realized that I
loved the stories and it was even more to the author's credit
to have used someone as obnoxious as Flick for inspiration.
I'm glad to see Jean Shepherd honored by a website such as
yours. I consider him one of our greatest humorists.
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Devaney,Judith
Lanham
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1960
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Comments:
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Singer,A.H.
LaPlata
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1959
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Comments:
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Bergenstein,Richard
Mount Airy
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1952
On the Radio |
Comments:
I started by driving to the top of hills in Pittsburgh and listened via a station in Philadelphia. I even attended a live broadcast from a hotel in Philly. From there he went to Cincinnati Ohio and then to WOR 710 AM. At least that’s what I think I remember
I had an old Hallicrafter and long line antenna aimed to pick him up.
I love listening to the old shows and can remember some almost word for word. The Great Gravy Boat Riot is my favorite.
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Dwyer Jr.,Robert T.
North Potomac
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1969
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Comments:
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McGee,James (Jim)
Owings
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1967
On the Radio |
Comments:
I first heard Jean Shepherd on the radio in Washington, DC, while working nights at the Government Printing Office. The little transistor radio with the earphone plugged into my ear made the long and boring nights bearable... even enjoyable while Shep's program was on. It was always the highpoint of the night! Shep has to be one of the best storytellers of all time.
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Sheehan,Sheila
Owings Mills
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1955
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Comments:
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Lenio,Bob
Pasadena
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1962
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Comments:
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SIMERLEIN,Barb (Tiedemann)
POCOMOKE
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1965
Read one of his books |
Comments:
I am a school pal and best friend of Leigh, who was indeed Nancy Prescott, We were friends all through high school and both were in the Clifton High School Mustang Band. We were both avid horse kids and both Nancy and I had vivid imaginations. We both wrote the Show Gypsies, but when we started the story, it was called Black Harvest. When she met Jean, she came to my home in Mahwah, N.J. and we discussed the book being redone. I was truly sad to read that she died in 1998. I last talked to her in 1992 when she and Jean were living in Sanable, Island. When I heard that Jean had died, I tried to find her, No one seemed to know anything about her whereabouts. I hope she is at peace. I don't have a web site currently, but maybe I can use my daughters. My phone number is 410 713 8409. I'd love to hear from any Lei9gh fans.
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Sauerbrey,Pete
Port Deposit
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1959
On the Radio |
Comments:
Shep got me in a lot of trouble when I was a teeneager in the late '50s and early '60s in my teenage years growing up in Philadelphia's western suburbs (Narberth, Pa.), where WOR reception, you might say, scored a measley 710 on a scale of about a million or two. Because WOR reception sucked at our home, I kept mom's 1960 Corvair out much later than the time I was supposed to be home to get ready for school - because I could travel to places (high hills of nearby Gladwyn) to get a good WOR signal on the car radio.
I endured Arlene Francis, John Gambling and a few other yappers that my mother listened to. But then, at night, while still a high school student and a new menace on the highway, I and I alone communed with Shep while wheeling mom's white 1960 Corvair with the black seats around the country curves and corners with tires screeching, secretly awakening the mother instinct in Ralph Nader.
Much later, I took a job as a publicity writer at ABC radio and TV in New York where I promoted ABC's four radio networks, none of which offered an interesting program, and certainly not a gem like The Jean Shepherd Show.
I'll always love Shep, whose spirit lives on in this 62-year-old old fart.
Thanks for being here!
Pete Sauerbrey
23 Red Barn Rd.
Port Deposit MD 21904
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Uslaner,Eric
Potomac
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1961
On the Radio |
Comments:
Growing up in NJ in the 1950s and 1960s, you could not escape WOR if you were not hooked on the Good Guys or Murray the K. It offered real news and this led to Shep. When you are a White Sox fan and heard Shep's lament about Bullfrog Bill Dietrich and the other losers, you know you have a soulmate. When you are a high school student and hear Shep's stories about Flick and Schwartz (hey, I knew lots of Schwartz kids--where did he find Jewish kids in Indiana, even in suburbs of Chicago?), you could imagine yourself in his stories. Many of us in high school and college in those years found Shep to be the voice of both sanity and insanity and it was a marvel that every night he found some new way to entertain us. Two of my friends and I shouted "Exclesior, you fatheads!" at the conclusion of our last high school assembly--but as Shep would have predicted, there was so much commotion that no one--and certainly no teacher--could hear us. Then it was off to college and alas I had less time (and quite a bit of interference at times in the Boston area) so that Shep became a vacation passion more than a daily treat. Thanks so much for this great web site!
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Falcioni,Rich
Rising Sun
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1965
On the Radio |
Comments:
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Bryer,Bob
Rockville
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1959
On the Radio |
Comments:
I listened to Shep during my High School years in NYC. Graduated HS in '63 & left NY for college. I lost track of Shep on the radio during college but I recently bought a DVD set of all of Shep's knows recordings. What a great entertainer and genius storyteller. Haven't discovered anyone close to his talent.
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Firestone, W3CAT,Ken
Rockville
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1955
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Comments:
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Hakman,Don
Silver Spring
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1959
On the Radio |
Comments:
I would love to hear his old WOR show one more time
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Trifiro,Alfred
Upper Marlboro
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1960
On the Radio |
Comments:
Would like information as to availability of tapes, videos, etc. of Shep's performances.
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Croydon,Stan
Washington, D.C.
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1957
On the Radio |
Comments:
My wife and I have been thinking about throwing out our old records and videos saying EVERYTHING these days has been digitized, somewhere and you can order it up online if you need to watch or listen to it! Then I thought to myself, "I have to keep the hour long shows Shep did on PBS that I taped on Beta and later transferred to VHS!" Of course, I would also keep the books I have by him and his two record albums.
The one show I didn't tape back in the 70s was the Wanda Hickey open hearth story. So, I dicided to see what was on the net about Wanda and found your page!
What a fantasic tribute to the greatest story teller since Mark Twain! Shep got me though my youth in the late 50s and early 60s and I was one of those kids listening to him on my radio under the pillow. My father didn't mind me listening to the Saturday shows but if he knew I listened when he was on Sunday nights he would have told me I was going straight to Hell!
It was hard picking WOR up in Cleveland where I went to college but I still had Shep during the summers. When I got a job I moved to St. Louis and sure had no hope of hearing the show. I found it ironic that when my wife and I moved to the D.C., I only learned his show was rerun on the local NPR staion, AFTER they stopped carryiung the show!
Listening to Shep made me realize my "thinking" wasn't crazy; it was some of my family that were dysfunctional! Listening to Shep gave me hope for my future. I also was proud to say I lived a block from Ft. Monmouth and had probably traipsed through woods that Shepherd had used to string wire while learning the ropes in the Signal Corps!
Again, thank you so much for sharing all the information you have gathered!
I was initially going to ask you about the sigh at the end of the closing theme and then I found the answer when I went to sign your guest book!
"Keep your knees loose and give them a low sillouette!" I knew the sayibng applied to being in the army but I really appreciated it after working for lawyers for a few years helping them automate their work and offices!
Thank you for this compendium of a truly great life!
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Smyth,Ken
West Friendship
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1962
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Comments:
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Wagner,Bill
Wittman
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1955
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Comments:
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Wagner,William
Wittman
Maryland
Shep fan since:
1952
On the Radio |
Comments:
Shep really had a great influence on me. Driving back to college on Sunday nights and hearing his wonderful tales were a sanity check for me. The sneezing powder, the joy buzzers and all the other stories from his perusals of the Johnson Smith catalogs were wonderful (I still subscribe) . I have a kazoo by my computer - my only musical achievement, thanks to Shep.
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