Last night at dinner I had a call from a friend that I rarely hear from. It was also 3-hours later in her time zone, so approaching midnight, an hour when most retirees are rarely awake. I knew the news would not be good, as I soon learned that a former co-worker of both of ours had passed away at only 61, six years younger than me and eight years younger than Julie. Losing dear friends is one of the biggest hassles of retirement. It came on the eve of  hearing about the death of Aretha Franklin, whose songs played a key role in some of these friendships – like “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?” (See Post #518). The call from Julie was soon followed by an exchange of personal texts and social messaging from other friends acknowledging some fond memories, but life would go on.

Talking with Julie always brings back great memories (even on a sad occasion). A call from last year inspired a previous post (See #329), after reminding me of our days in the radio business. She was the no-nonsense Office Manager while I was the cagey, wheelin’-dealin’ salesperson, and we certainly had our share of philosophical disagreements. It’s probably why we stayed good friends all these years, as she would join my family on our annual trek to Florida. “Give me a kernel, and I’ll make it pop” (See Post #595) was how she defined my ability to come up with wacky ideas like the “Tan Man.” (See Post #99). Promotional ideas were an essential part of selling advertisers on radio, and she was my sounding board. 

I recently described some of the events we were involved with at the radio station like the Bed Race (See Post #625). Sponsors would get involved and interact with our on-air personalities in the interest of creating awareness for their products and services. For example, we had a mattress company involved in the Bed Race, as well as other suppliers of pillows, bed sheets, and comforters. Charly Butcher was one of our morning on-air personalities (DJs) that tied these products to our race-team during live broadcasts from the event. It was his sudden death from a heart attack that was sadly called to my attention last night.

Salespeople and DJs make a good team in the radio business. Their job is to influence listeners to buy products and services and in return are compensated by appearance and endorsement fees generated through salespeople like me. Charly and I worked closely together on several projects throughout the years, but never stayed in touch once we both moved on to other positions. I tried to get back in touch with him a few years ago when I found out that my wife’s daughter was in the same doctorate program at Miami of Ohio as his daughter. I remember the conversation on how I found this out, and how small-world it seemed. However, he never responded and the girls ended up graduating at different times, so we never reconnected. I certainly feel the loss, but it’s been over 30 years since I last saw him. 

Aretha taught us all about R-E-S-P-E-C-T. I certainly respect her accomplishments in the music industry just as respected co-workers like Julie and Charly. I think the feeling was mutual, as we each put our skill-sets to work for the good of the station. As was the case last night, when we lose a friend – other friends unite. It was good to hear from everyone and exchange a few memories of how radio brought Aretha, Julie, Charly, and I all together. RIP.