Monday, February 23, 2015

Thinking Back



I’ve been in this business that we call radio for almost all of my adult life. I have been one of the lucky ones. I have been able to make a living & raise a family doing what I love in a business that doesn’t allow that luxury to most. I say that from my perch here in an “unrated” Vermont radio market that some working in larger markets may scoff at but it is a place that I fell in love with many years ago and has become my home just as surely as the place that I was born and raised as a child was once the place I loved most. I never think much anymore about what got me to this place or the larger “rated” markets that I worked in years ago but this weekend I was reminded of one of the best “gigs” I ever had in this business. The reminder came however in the sad news that one of the best men I ever had the pleasure to work for passed away last week. His name is Joe Rizza. Joe was my boss for nearly all of the seven years I spent at WMAS-FM in Springfield, Massachusetts. Joe and I didn’t always see eye to eye on things but he was always fair and pleasant no matter what the issue. I certainly wasn’t always as accommodating in return. The last conversation we had ended badly; and I never spoke with him again. That was more than 20 years ago. It wasn’t because I was angry at him and I know it wasn’t in his make up to remain angry over an unpleasant exchange of words that took place two decades ago; of that I am sure. But life does have a way of putting you in the position of looking back and finding a regret here or there no matter how successful or happy you are. And for me, one of those regrets was never having the chance to finish that conversation. To tell him that he had a hand in allowing me the luxury to work at what I love so many years later. All I can do is hope that he knew that already.


Me, Bob O'Brien, Jack Kratoville, Joe Rizza & Chuck Herlihy- WMAS-FM, Springfield, Ma