Jean Shepherd

[The General]

Most know him as the narrator and writer of the oddball Christmas movie "A Christmas Story."  You know the one, where Ralphie shoots his eye out with a Red Ryder BB Gun?  But to his radio fans from the 60's and 70's, he will be remembered as a pioneering grandfather of modern talk radio.  I'm too young to have listened to original broadcasts, but through the magic of the internet, I have discovered his old shows and I really enjoy them.


From Wikipedia:


Jean Parker Shepherd (July 26, 1921 â€" October 16, 1999) was an American raconteur, radio and TV personality,writer and actor who was often referred to by the nickname Shep.In addition to his stories, his shows also contained, among other things, humorous anecdotes and general commentaries about the human condition, observations about life in New York, accounts of vacations in Maine and travels throughout the world. Among the most striking of his programs was his account of his participation in the March on Washington in August 1963, during which Dr. Martin Luther King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech, and the program that aired on November 25, 1963â€"the day of President Kennedy's burial. However, his most scintillating programs remain his oftimes prophetic, bitingly humorous commentaries about ordinary life in America.Throughout his radio career, he performed entirely without scripts. His friend and WOR colleague Barry Farber marveled at how he could talk so long with very little written down.Yet during a radio interview, Shepherd once claimed that some shows took several weeks to prepare. In the 1960s and 1970s, his WOR New York show ran from 11:15 p.m. to midnight, later changed to 10:15 p.m. to 11 p.m.


A library of his old shows can be found here...http://www.pupuplatters.com/pupuplayer/free/pupuplayer.php?podcast=http://www.archive.org/download/brassfiglageerss.xml_1/brassfiglageerss.xml


It can be incredibly entertaining listening. 

[Digitech]

I read one of his books, 'A Fistful of Fig Newtons.' It's pretty good.

I know that he told some of the stories in it on his radio program as well. I never knew that there was an online library of his shows. Thanks for posting it.

[slipstream]

Streaming 100% Jean Shepherd:


http://insomniatheater.com/

[The General]

Streaming 100% Jean Shepherd:


http://insomniatheater.com/

SWEET!  Thanks!

[slipstream]

SWEET!  Thanks!

You're welcome.  I started listening about 2 weeks ago. A lot of brilliant radio here.  I hope it never runs out.

[The General]

The genesis of the movie "A Christmas Story!"



On Christmas Eve of 1974, Jean Shepherd read the story that would later become the movie, "A Christmas Story", live on his long-running WOR-AM radio show. If you love the movie, you'll recognize his voice right away.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkicEleOiTM

[nooryisawesome]

Been listening to a lot of him lately. Good story teller.