Thank you, Scott Shannon

Scott Shannon retired Friday.

The name may not mean anything to you.  That is, if you're not a fan of NYC morning radio.

I first heard Scott on Z100 back in the 80's, on the Z Morning Zoo.   Scott and Ross and Mr. Leonard in his lime green Pinto.  I won a jacket from them once, for adding a song to the Juke box From Hell.  He took Z100 from worst to first.  On air he's a bit of a doofus, but as a program manager behind the scenes he's absolutely brilliant.

He left New York for awhile, only to return as a co-host of Scott and Todd in the Morning on WPLJ.  And I've been a loyal listener every since.

The ups and downs of life in the NYC area, all on my car radio every weekday.  Todd Pettengill is a comic genus, but Scott is the heart of the show.  They discussed everything, from the victories of New York sports teams, to movies they'd like to see, to weird news stories and the tales of woe about public figures (got a lot of mileage out of Anthony Weiner's plight).  The  latest celebrity gossip, there it was.  Interviews with musical acts and TV stars.  Games and giveaways (I love "Dead Star in the Envelope", an audience participation guessing game).  Charitable works, such as the annual golf outing and the Christmas show at the children's hospital.

9/11/01.  I was driving to work, and listening to Scott and Todd.  they were interviewing a listener over the phone.  The tale he told was incredible and horrible.  A plane had crashed into the World trade Center.   As Scott and Todd tried to get the details from him, to clarify the unspeakable, unbelievable act he described...another plane hit the second tower.

I don't remember the rest of the drive, I must have been on auto pilot.  But I remember, in the days that followed, how Scott and Todd took to the air every morning, grimly determined to help their listeners get through this disaster, helping them search for missing loved ones, helping coordinate supplies to be delivered to those who were searching the rubble at Ground Zero...Shelli Sonstein, then news director for the morning show, in tears as she tried to read the news...

Scott, you were one of the highlights of my morning commute.  You will be missed.




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