D, K
South Brunswick, New Jersey |
Joined: January 27, 2006 |
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Shep fan since: 1973
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 1615
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Comments:
Finding this website and sampling just a bit of the WOR shows at http://shep-archives.com/netjuke/, has brought back some very nice memories. From your radio time line web page, I deduce that I was most likely introduced to Jean Shepherd’s tremendous storytelling skills around the beginning of 1974. Some nights, I’d find myself going down to the basement where my father would be toiling at his workbench – the one he had cobbled together from recycled wooden planks and boxes, a couple of sheets of rolled steel, and a cast off file cabinet, and whatnot, years prior. The ancient radio would be tuned into WOR. He’d often be fixing some inexpensive, beat up, household item, with the process usually involving some combination of a soldering iron, epoxy cement, old telephone wire, or some oddball doodads – little metallic things that wished they could have been nuts, or bolts, or washers, or something that most people could name outright, instead of being referred to as “those little black things in the third baby food jar from the left on the second shelf”. On exceptional nights, the project might involve all of the above. If the hour was right, it would also involve 45 minutes of Jean Shepherd joining us via the radio. Being in my early teens at the time - an age when I’d oscillate between enjoying the comforts of having a stable, if boring, lower-middle class family, and the Darwinian need to at time rebel against my elders in order to establish my pseudo-independence – I’d find myself hanging out, watching the workbench surgery while on one hand hoping my father would let me help, imparting some of his obvious Mr. Fix-it wisdom to me in the process, while on the other hand I be wondering why the heck he’d go through all that instead of just buying a new one for a couple of bucks. Clearly I didn’t appreciate the permanent psychological imprint – the imperative for self sufficiency - left on him and many others whose formative years were spent in the Great Depression, and who had gone straight from high school graduation to boot camp to the European theatre of World War II. Anyway, in addition to the sounds of the humming fluorescent shop light and the humming sounds my father would emit when contemplating his strategy to outwit the planned obsolescence of yet another item in need of fixing, I recall the old radio, its tubes glowing, tuned into WOR and Jean Shepherd’s memorable voice. I was convinced that for most of the day, my parents’ reluctance to twist our radios’ wobbly tuning knobs to anything other than WOR was some sort of perverse punishment. I wondered if they realized that subjecting my Vietnam era teen ears to Patrica McCann, John Gambling, and The Fitzgeralds would be much more likely to push me to join the Weather Underground than it would convince me to vote Republican or develop a desire to shop at “Flemington Furs of Flemington, New Jersey”. But Jean Shepherd’s show was different. I found that, just like my father, I’d listen to Shepherd’s voice – his vivid, humorous descriptions were effortless to visualize – he seemed to be talking right to us - and marvel when he’d manage to always wrap up even his most complex yarns just as the top of the hour “beep” would sound. The father vs. teenage son tensions that popped up too often at other times would be put on hold down there in the basement workshop when my dad and I were joined by Jean Shepherd on the radio. Looking back at it now, I suppose that Shepherd’s shows resonated with my father in part because of some shared experiences – born about the same time, both had been in the Army Signal Corp, and they shared what I can best describe as a friendly, old-time crankiness when it came to societal changes, trends or fashion. I now see why my father “identified” with Shepherd. And though I didn’t realize it at the time, my father would have been correct if he took my interest in Jean Shepherd’s stories as a sign that I wasn’t rejecting all that my father stood for. Well, many years have passed since those nights at the basement workbench. Shepherd died in 1999, less than two years before my father died. Finding these web pages, and listening to some of the WOR shows after all those years, has left me with some of those same good feelings I’d have when at the workbench. I once again feel closer to my dad. Thanks for the web pages.
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D'Andrea, Paul
Hamden, Connecticut |
Joined: November 27, 2004 |
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Shep fan since: 1983
Discovered Shep:
Saw One of His Movies
Guest No: 1358
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D'Augustine, Alan
Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan |
Joined: March 17, 2001 |
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Shep fan since: 1965
Discovered Shep:
Guest No: 517
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D'Augustine, Alan
Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan |
Joined: November 21, 2004 |
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Shep fan since: 1964
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 1349
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Comments:
I used to listen to the original WOR shows with a transistor radio when I was in high school.
The line... "Hey Martie, shove your head outta da window and maybe da stink'll go away..." is the hook that grabbed me.
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Dabczynski, Andy
Provo, Utah |
Joined: December 27, 2004 |
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Shep fan since: 1964
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 1415
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Comments:
I grew up in NJ -- it seemed like everybody I knew was a Sheperdophile, with my older cousin Chris the biggest fan of all. I don't know how many nights I tuned in WOR to hear JS's ramblings! In the early 70's, while a college student at the Univ of Rochester, NY, he came to do a guest stand-up session. The place was jammed with all the students from the NY metro area. A fantastic evening that I'll never forget -- unfortunately, the only time I got to hear him in person. Years later, my wife and I saw Christmas Story in the theater as one of our first dates (she lived in Cleveland, and used to shop at Higbees!). Now our kids have read my yellowed copies of "Fig Newtons" and "Wanda," and committed "Christmas Story" to memory! Flick Lives in our famly -- and so does Jean!
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Dafler, Kevin
Lombard, Illinois |
Joined: December 17, 2003 |
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Shep fan since: 1969
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 1142
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Comments:
I'm one of those kids you ention who used to lay in bed in the dark and marvel as Shep spoke to "me" via my sub-pillow transistor radio. A sixth-grade classmate clued me in to not only the radio show, but also "IGWT;AOPC", which I read many times as a pre-teen, and loved completely. I can still vividly picture in my mind, from Sheps wonderful descriptions, the old woman in the Horn and Hardart cafetia with the beet juice running down her chin!
Anyone else remember the "Year One" poster Shep promoted and sold via his radio show? I got it, wish I still had it...
Great site, thanks for rekindling so many great memories!!
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Daley, Kevin
New Orleans, Louisiana |
Joined: November 28, 2004 |
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Shep fan since: 1964
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 1359
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Comments:
My boss recently made a comment about "Missing the train" at a railroad crossing and immediately, "The Bear Missed the Train" popped into my head, after all these years.
I really didn't know how to explain who "Shep" was to her and spending late nights with my little transistor radio under the pillow listening to his stories as a child. One co-worker suggested that he was some kind of sadistic horror story teller?!?!? They really didn't get it, having been deprived of the privilege of growing up listening to his show.
I like the Mark Twain comparison. I'll have to remember that.
Flick lives!
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Daly, Rick
Rohnert Park, California |
Joined: April 03, 2000 |
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Shep fan since: 1985
Discovered Shep:
Guest No: 37
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Daly, Michael
Savannah, Georgia |
Joined: December 05, 2007 |
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Shep fan since: 1976
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 2643
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Comments:
Saw Shep in concert at the Clinton Mill and Hunterdon Central HS when I was much younger, growing up in NJ. Listened to his WWOR show also--Vividly remember the episode where he describes Flick, Schwartz, and the gang consuming the contents of an medicine cabinet they found in a run-down house--and the hilarious aftermath
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Damon, Ann Marie
Ann Arbor, Michigan |
Joined: November 02, 2006 |
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Shep fan since: 2002
Discovered Shep:
Read one of his books
Guest No: 1816
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Comments:
I look forward to reading the book as soon as I can get a copy of I, Libertine.
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Dana, Bruce
Marlborough, Connecticut |
Joined: June 21, 2001 |
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Shep fan since: 1963
Discovered Shep:
Guest No: 611
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daniels, scott
east lyme, Connecticut |
Joined: January 26, 2006 |
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Shep fan since: 1957
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 1614
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Comments:
Just heard an old Shep show on WCNI the local college station. That took me back to the days when as I kid I would lay in bed with the lites out and listen to his stories on WOR -- what a treat to rediscover this after so many years!
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Daniher, Ed
Edison, New Jersey |
Joined: January 23, 2004 |
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Shep fan since: 1955
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 1212
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Comments:
Other than Mark Twain, Shep has no peer as America's greatest humorist/satirist.
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Darcy, L.L.
Fairfield, Connecticut |
Joined: November 23, 2002 |
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Shep fan since: 1957
Discovered Shep:
Guest No: 781
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Darcy, James
Abington, Pennsylvania |
Joined: June 05, 2003 |
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Shep fan since: 1956
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 861
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Comments:
He read Sax Rohmer's "Dr. FuManchu," told my neighbors "French Poodles are NOT people." Shep made me feel like a revolutionary when I needed to feel that way. Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Robert W. Service... I felt like I belonged to the "night people." Tiny box kites on Washington Square Park, Safari to locate the "elephants' burial ground" in the subway tunnels. What a guy. Signed: Jimmyvibes
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Dave the Spazz,
NYC, New York |
Joined: March 19, 2000 |
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Shep fan since: 1972
Discovered Shep:
Guest No: 65
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Davellis, Gus
Hurricane, Florida |
Joined: April 27, 2006 |
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Shep fan since: 1922
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 1662
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Comments:
Thank you for the great annual calendars I was able to download from your site which I found on a Google (don't be evil) search for "1988 calendar". That was a great year for me and probably Shep too.
I didn't know Shep before. Thanks for the neat-o website.
Gus
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David, Bob
San Rafael, California |
Joined: September 14, 2000 |
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Shep fan since: 1961
Discovered Shep:
Guest No: 228
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Davis, Chad
Corry, Pennsylvania |
Joined: May 21, 2001 |
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Shep fan since: 2001
Discovered Shep:
Guest No: 572
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Davis, Lawrence
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
Joined: February 18, 2003 |
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Shep fan since: 1967
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 888
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Davis, Hal
Dayton, Ohio |
Joined: September 02, 2004 |
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Shep fan since: 1963
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 1301
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Comments:
The search phrase "sinful Street" pulled up this marvelous site. A Jean Shepherd archive on the Web. Vocal ephemera preserved. Hallaloooo. Collectors Choice records has reissued on CD two of his LPs, including "Foibles." Long may he wave.
Paul Krassner of The Realist interviewed Theodore Sturgeon about the "I Libertine" hoax
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Davis, Ted
Dillsburg, Pennsylvania |
Joined: December 17, 2004 |
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Shep fan since: 1968
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 1387
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Comments:
I was introduced to Shepherd's radio show (I think) by a high school chum, and I was quickly hooked by his amazing, wild, really funny stories. When Shep proclaimed himself the "King of New Amsterdam" (or something like that) in the late 1960s, I proclaimed myself "the Emperor of Lansdowne [PA]," where I then lived. I wrote him an official letter, offering to establish diplomatic relations and to begin trade by exporting hand-carved chessmen to the Kingdom of New Amsterdam. Wouldn't you know it, Shep read my letter on the air!! I'm a teacher now, and when I tell my students that the "Christmas Story" narrator used to have a radio show, and that he read my letter to him on the air when I was in high school, no one believes me. But he did. I wonder whether anyone else out there remembers this?
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Davis, Stuart
Stuart, Florida |
Joined: December 01, 2006 |
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Shep fan since: 1962
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 1843
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Comments:
I'm really not sure when I met Jean, but he was living in New Milford, NJ at the time. I was a staff photographer with the Bergen Evening Record in Hackensack, NJ and was assigned to take photos of him at his home. I realized there wasn't much in the way of props, so we decided to meet at his WOR studio. I took my photos and with time left, we decided take a walk to see the new MG "A". As a former MG "TF" 1200, owner (1954)I was as fascinated as Jean to see the radical, new styling. Jean liked cars, so for a moment we really connected. I always enjoyed his voice. So distinctive. I worked most nights, freelancing during the day so I never was a regular listener. I lost touch and it was only recently I read a story about Bob Fass in the New Yorker who mentioned Jean Shepherd as one of his radio heros. I'm sorry to hear he's gone. Would have been lovely to have relived those early days. My late condolances to his wife and to all his former listeners.
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Davis, Bob
West Goshen, Pennsylvania |
Joined: October 24, 2007 |
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Shep fan since: 1958
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 2593
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Comments:
thanks for the old song. brings back memories. I will look for a copy. Thanks
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Davis, Bill
Grand Island, Florida |
Joined: December 07, 2008 |
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Shep fan since: 1958
Discovered Shep:
On the Radio
Guest No: 2803
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Comments:
Listened to Shep from 1958 to 1963 when I got drafted. Shep was GREAT....Excelsior, you fathead!
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