Skip to main content

Buzzard artist passes away


In the 1003 previous posts in this blog, several have been about WMMS/100.7. The radio station was a soundtrack for many who spent at least part of our lives in Northeast Ohio. Another image identified with this area is the Buzzard, which was created by local artist David Helton. Brian Chalmers had been chosen to succeed Helton, after David had been promoted to head up the art for all the Malrite radio stations in the 1980's.

Over the past weekend, Brian Chalmers passed away. Not only did we lose part of this area's heritage, but we lost someone at way too young an age. John Gorman wrote about this in his Buzzard Blog.

Funny how things happen at times. I am finishing reading The Buzzard for the second time and am getting ready to write a second review of this great book, along with a companion post sometime thi.s week. It's always sad to say goodbye to someone you never knew but were affected in a good way by their work.

Rest in peace Brian.

Comments

Minerva said…
I remember the Buzzard well. It was the soundtrack to many of my college days and nights.
June 23, 2009 6:11 PM
struke said…
I can't think of any other station having such a strong link to a mascot or image. Great branding.
June 24, 2009 1:53 AM
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

Lawson's Chip Dip

On a couple of occasions I have written posts dedicated to Lawson's, a convenience store chain that was located in Ohio for close to 50 years. In the late 1980's the chain was bought out by Dairy Mart, of Engfield Ct. Dairy Mart was then purchased by Alimentation Couche-Tard, and most stored were rebranded Circle K. Something that has survived the years since Lawson's has left the landscape is Lawson's Chip Dip. I get many hits on this blog from people out of Ohio, I'm thinking former Buckeyes, looking for availability of this chip dip. I had gotten an email from a former resident of Cleveland looking for it. I emailed Circle K about this sometime ago asking if it was possible to send the dip out to those out of state, they said because of quality issues that it was not possible. My only suggestion would be to get in touch with Circle K in your home area and ask them to start stocking this very popular item that seems to make every get-together complete. Now we wil...
28 comments
Read more

Big Chuck! a review

Update 01/12/09 : Click here to read a related article on Ohio Media Watch, along with a review of the book. Cliff Note: It's the second article in the OMW post. I spent a good portion of my Friday nights while I was going through my preteen and teenage years watching a television show called "The Hoolihan and Big Chuck Show." In high school, I was on the wrestling and football teams. One of my teammates was a quiet young man named Mike Schodowski. His father is Charles Schodowski, also known as Big Chuck. The book I'm about to review chronicles his 47 years as a part of Cleveland television history. The book tells how Chuck come from a family living in the Slavic Village neighborhood in Cleveland, how he went from working in a foundry on Cleveland's east side, to going into Cleveland television, first at KYW, channel 3 to WJW, channel 8, and how he became a Cleveland icon. Chuck started out as a camera man and went into directing. He was a part of the phenomenon...
16 comments
Read more