Skip to main content

Classic Post: this is Larry Morrow, a book review.

Cliff Note: A week and a half ago, when I was in the WIXY 1260 Online studio, I was being interviewed by Lisa Jordan. We were talking about WIXY Superman, Larry Morrow. Lisa mentioned his book. Here is a repost of the review I had written about the book.

The area of the country I live in has seen many talented people come and go in television, in radio and on the athletic field. Most of these people feel the need to take their talents elsewhere. The book I'm reviewing for this post is about one of the unselfish few who stay and use their talents for the betterment of the community.

One of the media friends I have made since I started blogging is Sue Wilson, who happens to be the program director of Akron, Ohio country music station WQMX and morning show co-host. Sue had told me that Larry Morrow was one of her positive influences during her career in radio.

This is Larry Morrow...My Life on and off the Air is the autobiography of one of the classic good guys of the Cleveland airwaves. Larry tells us about his life, how he got into radio, and why he moved to, and fell in love with, Cleveland.

Larry Morrow was one of the original WIXY Supermen, the lineup of disc jockeys that helped make WIXY/1260 the legendary station it was. Larry tells quite a bit about the others, especially those behind the scenes, that helped make WIXY the success it was. At that time, he was the midday personality there and his audience was mainly housewives. In playing to that audience, there was a daily contest called what's cooking, where Larry would reveal ingredients to a recipe one by one in between playing the hits of the day.

Next stop was 3WE, where he would replace legendary announcer, Jim Runyon. It was those days I listened to him as I got ready to go to school. I used to enjoy hearing about when he got his morning coffee from David's Place, especially asking newsman Hugh Daneceau if he enjoyed his coffee. It usually was responded to by a tape of wrestler Pampero Firpo saying "ohhhh yeah."

Larry also chronicled his years behind the mike at WQAL. Wherever he stopped, he always left a positive imprint. The title that he was most proud of was "Mr. Cleveland," one he wore with pride. Larry first moved to Cleveland during the Hough riots in 1966, and he has spent the last 40 plus years working with civic leaders for the betterment of his adopted community.

This book is a very easy and enjoyable read. Even though it's about the life and career of Larry Morrow, there's ample credit to go around to everybody in his life. In the times in his career when things could have gone better, Larry spent very little time being bitter. To me that's the sign of a good pro and a great man. And you can feel safe letting anybody in your family read this book as Larry, a born again Christian, used no offensive language in the writing of the book.

If you have a love for Cleveland radio, or have a love for Cleveland period, this book is a must read. If you know anyone who has a love for the above mentioned topics, this would make a great Christmas present. Click here to order from Amazon.com.




Cliff Note: I want to thank Jane Lassar, publicist at Gray and Company for providing me with the resources for this post.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Post 800: Time to chat

Hi Guys, It's hard to believe that this is post number 800 for this blog. I started this blog out of my desire to communicate. Since radio and television is becoming more and more automated and less and less personal, I'm glad I made the decision to go in this direction as it has given me many blessings. When I first decided to write my musings, a friend from the radio and television boards who goes by the name of newsnomore, told me not to be discouraged if I didn't get any readers. The fact that I did in the early going made me surprised and grateful that anyone was enjoying what I wrote. I've had people tell me that maybe it wasn't meant for me to ever be in radio, that maybe my calling was blogging. Nowadays I think blogging makes for better two way conversation than terrestrial radio, especially the way I do it, non confrontational. The closest I come from any confrontation is the innocent digs that Pat and I shoot at each other. On an average day I get betwee...
12 comments
Read more

Why?

What I'm posting now is with the blessing of Chelle. Chelle is the cousin of Suzanne's husband, Richard. I had gotten the impression from both of them that they were about as close as sisters. Suzanne had been a friend of mine since I had discovered one of her blogs in July, 2006. We would make reference to each other on our blogs and would have dialogue via email quite a bit. It was no surprise to me that she was friends to many other bloggers as well. I felt it was quite an honor to be held in as high esteem as I was. We even talked to each other on the phone on occasion. I felt as we had known each other for a long time. I also knew that Suzanne was having some personal problems, much of which had to do with a very troubled marriage. I would let her bounce things off me, and I would send her some encouragement. While she was going through some of her marital problems, she made herself available to give me a lift when I needed it. My son was having some problems of his own a...
17 comments
Read more

From a "Battleground State"

I am going to make this one short and sweet. I live in Ohio, in this election season, one of the so called "Battleground states," a state crucial for any candidate presidential hopes. Of course we have had many visits from presidential and vice presidential candidates. Other blogs have dissected both campaigns so I will not. The only questions I have is will the promises made by either of these candidates exclusive to these states be fulfilled, or will they prove only to be hot air?
19 comments
Read more