He changed the name to “Hohman,” and it came to represent all of the major industrial towns in the Midwest.Īs an adolescent, Shepherd worked as a mail boy in a steel mill. Hammond was a “tough and mean” industrial city, Shepherd later said, and he used it in his stories.
#The shepherd radio tv
Shepherd did a pair of syndicated PBS TV programs, “Jean Shepherd’s America,” a highly personalized guided tour of the United States that ran in 19, and “Shepherd’s Pie,” more tales from the American road, which appeared in 1985.īorn in Chicago, where his father was an office manager for Borden Dairies, Shepherd grew up in nearby Hammond, Ind. He wrote several books, including 1966’s “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash,” which had 10 printings, and the 1971 story collection “Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters.”
#The shepherd radio driver
His writing appeared in a vast assortment of publications, from Playboy, where he was a frequent contributor, to Car and Driver and National Lampoon. He wrote and narrated the 1983 classic “A Christmas Story,” a sardonic look at the holiday. Shepherd was more than a radio performer. “To me, life is a vast, cosmic, shaggy dog story, a giant, curiously unresolved joke with an infinitely long punch line.” “Most people think of life as some kind of never-ending struggle, a tragedy,” he once said. He would talk about whatever came to mind, and those tales often celebrated the hopelessness and haplessness of the human race and the total absurdity of life on Earth. He worked without a script and conjured tales based on his Indiana upbringing, creating such characters as his alter ego, Ralph Parker, and his neighbors, the Bumpuses. Shepherd could weave tales and develop a mood like no other and kept his audience hovering near their radios.
In his 21 years on 50,000-watt WOR-AM in New York City, Shepherd attracted a large and loyal following along the Eastern Seaboard.
Shepherd died in a hospital near his home on Sanibel Island, Fla., said his longtime friend and business advisor, Irwin Zwilling. “It’s a lot of fun,” he said, “to go to work every day and enjoy what you do, it’s a neat thing.Jean Shepherd, the prolific radio raconteur whose easy storytelling style earned comparisons to Mark Twain, died Saturday. When asked about his job, Miller was very positive. He also said that it was one of the team’s first playoff wins.
The Rams won on a block extra point attempt, in which the team ran it back for a score. They would score 22 points in the third and 18 points in the fourth quarter to win the game 53-38.įor Holmes, he recalled a playoff game against Slippery Rock. During the third quarter, the Rams trailed 35-13. During his time at Martinsburg High School, Holmes was a gym teacher, and Miller was a part of one of his classes.ĭuring their time together, they have witnessed several spectacular moments of Ram football. Oddly enough, Miller used to be a student under Holmes. “We don’t step on each other’s toes and we can anticipate what we’re going to say,” he said. “He’s been around as a player and a coach,” he said, “He’s taught me a lot from the game itself, as well as what to watch for.”įor Holmes, he enjoys how easy it is to work with Miller. Miller said his favorite thing about broadcasting with Holmes is his knowledge of the game. During their time together, the two have built up a lot of chemistry and enjoy working with each other. Miller and Holmes have spent the last 11 seasons calling Shepherd football. He spent the first 17 seasons calling games with Tom Tucker, who now works with Shepherd basketball. Vic Holmes has been part of Shepherd football even longer, having spent 28 years calling games for the Rams. In the class, he says his goal is to “introduce the skills, preparation and process for going through a game broadcast.” Miller is also an adjunct professor at Shepherd University, teaching Recr 227: introduction to sport broadcasting. They would call home games and rotate between teams of two. He said that his first introduction to sports broadcasting came during a Shepherd baseball season with three other students. I’ve always played growing up, so it’s a way to stay close to what I love doing.”ĭuring his time at Shepherd, the sports communications major spent time doing radio work with the campus radio, WSHC. Miller says that he does it “for the love of sports. Matt Miller first started working at Talk Radio WRNR in 1993, immediately following his graduation from Shepherd University, and began calling games from the press box in Ram Stadium in 2004. SHEPHERDSTOWN- When fans of Shepherd football aren’t able to attend games, they look to the team of Matt Miller and Vic Holmes each Saturday afternoon of the football season.