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October 11, 2014
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Early Radio Station Jobs
It had been thought that Shep was on station WLEC in Sandusky Ohio for some time in 1948, but as it turns out that was the female singer Jean Shepherd. However, it has been discovered that he did spend time at two other stations in Toledo, Ohio. These were WTOD (1947-1951) and WSPD dates unknown. His time at WKRC had been confirmed to as late as April 27, 1949, about a month more that previously thought. Thanks to Steve Glazer
>>> Radio Station Page. . .
September 4, 2014
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2 "new" shows from 1975-76
Thanks to Al Holt, we have possibly 2 new shows added to the database. "Worst Night" from June 30, 1975 and "Rock Collector" from July 7, 1975 "Worst Night" is an army foxhole tale and Shep follows it with a story about cramming for a Chemistry test. "Rock Collector" deals with a story of a rock collector who has accumulated 60,000 pounds of assorted rocks followed by a tale of a fictitious Montreal Expos game where they score 1119 runs in one inning! Thanks to Gary in California for the dating. See "New Finds" to the right under "Audio Archives"
July 30, 2014
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More Never Before Heard Shep Audio
Recorded for syndication and never broadcast
Mr FAT-W (Films Around The World) has released 12 new Jean Shepherd shows never before released. These are available as 12 single audio CDs @ $14.99 each.
>>> Shepstore. . .

>>> Films Around the World website. . . <<<

July 26, 2014
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Happy Birthday Shep!
Shep would be 93 years old today. It's been 37 years since his last WOR show on April 1, 1977 and 59 years since he first started on WOR. Don't that make you feel old!
May 1, 2014
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Anyone have the whole set?
The "Ronald Colman Gravy Boat"
One too many!
So what's the story behind this item? In "My Summer Story" one of the plot lines was about the "Great Gravy Boat Riot" Due to a delivery 'snafu' only gravy boats were being delivered to the theater each week and after a while everyone had way too many gravy boats and the women rebelled, throwing them at Leopold Doppler up on stage . A scene reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" attack scene. Were there actually Ronald Coleman gravy boats or were they made specifically for the movie? At least one of these has survived through the years and has shown up in a very unlikely place. . .
>>> Continued. . .
February 21, 2014
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Shep Receiving Doctorate of Humane Letters at Indiana University in 1995
courtesy: Professor James Lane - Indiana Univerity and Nick Mantis
Here's a photo of Shep receiving his Doctorate of Humane Letters at Indiana University on May 15, 1995.
>>> Continued. . .
February 17, 2014
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From 1959 - "Clean H-Bomb - Ghosts of Gothic NY Architecture"
Early Shep
Thanks to Dan Fine, a 24 minute excerpt from one of Shep's Saturday or Sunday night shows in approx July 1959 has surface for all to enjoy. As usual, Shep covers a bunch of topics in a short time.
>>> Continued. . .
February 13, 2014
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The Hunting of the Snark
as read by Jean Shepherd
Thanks to David Director and David Singer, Shep's reading of Lewis Carrolls "The Hunting of the Snark" has come to light for Shep fans to hear. Follow the link 'continued on next page. . .' to hear the January 29, 1963 show.
>>> Continued. . .
January 16, 2014
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"Destry Rides Again"
St. John Terrell's Lambertville Music Circus
In 1961 Shep performed in "Destry Rides Again" at the Lambertville Music Circus. The show played only a few weeks because the Music Circus has a long line-up of performers and performances that rotated through the big tent (Yes, tent!) over the years. Check out the website created by Jon Case, who worked both on stage and behind the scenes back in the 60s.

>>> Lambertville Music Circus website. . . <<<

January 5, 2014
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Free 1926 Sears Prefab House
Just haul it away!
Located in Arlington, VA, this 960 square foot house can be all yours. Shep fans will recall this type of house being one of the sub-plots in "Phantom of the Open Hearth"

>>> USA Today website. . . <<<

November 23, 2013
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Jean Shepherd reflects on Kennedy
After a long, sad weekend following the assassination of John F Kennedy on Nov 22, 1963, Jean Shepherd took to the airwaves for his first show back on Monday Nov 25 with a somber, reflective program. For the entire week he declined to play his jaunty theme song, and took several days to discuss the American scene and mood. Thanks largely to Shep fan Jean Tepper, we have three of these programs that were taped from FM over the air at the time of broadcast. The first show is actually a composite of three different recordings, starting with a very poor copy which was the most complete, tagging on a bit more from a slightly better recording, then the bulk of the show is from the very nice sounding copy from Jean Tepper. The other two recordings are flawed due to signal interference that comes and goes throughout the broadcast, but despite the whistling and hooning, Shep's words come through. Two of these programs have been aired in the past over WBAI, the third has never been replayed as far as I can recall. During the coming week you will get a chance to hear them all on the radio or on the web. The first show from Monday Nov 25, 1963 will be played on the Saturday morning show on yesterdayusa.com. The Thanksgiving show "Shadows and Haiku" will be aired on WBAI on Sunday evening. At some point during the week I will upload the third show to Mixcloud - this show was from either Tuesday or Wednesday of that week, and I call it "The Ugly American". I hope you will listen. (If you miss these, they will be archived here in the "Max Schmid presents Jean Shepherd" section)

>>> Mass Backwards. . . <<<

November 22, 2013
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NPR plays Shep's eulogy to JFK
interview with Eugene B Bergmann
On November 25th many NPR stations will be playing Jean Shepherd's November 25th 1963 show on which he talks about Kennedy and politics in general. How they affect our lives. Gene talks about the effect that the assassination had on Shep Shep did not play his usual theme song at the start or finish of his show for the entire week out of respect and spent the week doing shows related to the subject.

>>> PRX website. . . <<<

October 29, 2013
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Scott Schwartz (Flick) poses next to the statue
Hammond statue to immortalize 'A Christmas Story' prank
By Andy Grimm Tribune reporter
Visitors to the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond will get a special treat now after the unveiling of a statue of Flick in the famous "Triple Dog Dare" scene from A Christmas Story. The statue was cleverly placed right up against the existing flagpole in front of the center to complete the scene.

>>> Chicago Tribune website. . . <<<

October 1, 2013
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Marching Band Pileup Nearly Takes Out High School's Entire Tuba Section
Where's Wilbur Duckworth when you need him?
Like a scene right out of "Great American Fourth of July" (upper left in photo) the Lake Travis High School Marching Band find themselves in a choreography snaffu. As the band goes into a reverse march, the leading (trailing?) sousaphone player trips and begins a 'domino effect' as the others back into and trip on each other.

>>> Youtube video. . . <<<

September 23, 2013
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Photo Credit: Elena Dijour / Shutterstock.com
How Corporations Co-opted the "Flash Mob"
AlterNet / By Paul Krassner
Paul Krassner who was one of many people inspired by Shep has penned an article about modern day flash mobs being used by corporations for marketing purposes. Beginning with the seventh paragraph he makes the "Shepherd" coinnection.

>>> Article. . . <<<

August 5, 2013
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Gene on CBS
"Shep's Army" - on the march!
The Interviews (UPDATE 3)
Gene Bergmann kicked off his promotions for "Shep's Army" by appearing on CBS New York Sunday Morning July 21st at 8:40am. Next on the schedule: August 10 - Joe Franklin Show on Bloomberg Radio (taped phone interview) August 11 - 7pm to 9pm - Golden Age of Radio with Max Schmid - WBAI NY Live on phone August 16, 11:00pm - YesterdayUSA with John and Larry Gassman - www.yesterdayUSA.com August 24 - NPR Weekend edition with Scott Simon, Saturday (taped interview) September 1 - 8pm - 21st Century Radio with Dr Bob Hieronimus - WCBM 680 Baltimore September 16 - BOB EDWARDS SHOW - SIRIUS XM SATELLITE RADIO

>>> Article. . . <<<

August 3, 2013
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Early life in Trenton left mark on pioneering composer George Antheil
By Ross Amico/For The Times of Trenton
Radio personality Jean Shepherd (now of "A Christmas Story" fame) adored him, and played his music on his radio broadcasts, even providing an on-air eulogy following Antheil's death. Yet his music has failed to gain traction. Read the whole article . . .

>>> Article. . . <<<

July 26, 2013
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Happy Birthday Shep!
Shep would be 92 years old today. It's been 36 years since his last WOR show on April 1, 1977 and 58 years since he first started on WOR. Don't that make you feel old!
July 8, 2013
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Old Books, Fresh Eyes
A new Blog
Lois Nettleton's niece inherited Lois' book collection and has decided to do something contructive with them. "For too long, the books sat neglected on my shelf. They deserve a closer look as a window into the artistic and cultural climate of 1950s, 60s and 70s. This blog is intended to give fresh eyes to these old books and learn something along the way."

>>> Website. . . <<<

June 26, 2013
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Sheps Army - Bummers, Blisters, & Boondoggles
By Jean Shepherd - Edited by Eugene B. Bergmann
Thanks to the efforts of author Eugene B. Bergmann, who wrote the only book on Jean Shepherd, "Excelsior You Fathead, The Art and Enigma of Jean Shepherd", those verbal tales from the radio have been collected and painstakingly transcribed into book form as "Shep's Army - Bummers, Blisters, and Boondoggles"
>>> Continued. . .
May 3, 2013
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3 Tony Award Nominations
A Christmas Story - The Musical
Best Musical Best Original Score Best Book of a Musical

>>> Article. . . <<<

March 12, 2013
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Shep with football and Dawn - Courtesy Bill Ek and Steve Glazer
VERY Early Shep
and first love Dawn Strickland
Steve Glazer has been doing a lot of research into who is fact and fiction in Shep's stories and in recent weeks we have added a lot of content in the people section. (See "What's New" in the bottom of the next column) He was able to make contact with Dawn Strickland's son. According to Shep on his 8-6-69 show, she lived across the street and was his 'first love'. Shep is the kid holding the football with the signiture cleft in his chin. Shep always spoke of living on Cleveland Street, but he was born in Chicago where he lived until mid Kindergarten and then lived in East Chicago, Indiana where he met Dawn. He then moved to Cleveland St in Hammond to start 2nd grade.
February 20, 2013
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Matthew Callan
The Man Behind The Brilliant Media Hoax Of "I, Libertine"
By: Matthew Callan
Matthew Callan wrote an interesting article on The Awl concerming Sheps early WOR radio career and the story behind "I, Libertine" "In the 1950s, a DJ named Jean Shepherd hosted a late-night radio show on New York's WOR that was unlike any before or since. On these broadcasts, he delivered dense, cerebral monologues, sprinkled with pop-culture tidbits and vivid stretches of expert storytelling. . .

>>> Article. . . <<<

February 5, 2013
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The Winter of Our Discontent
by John M. Whalen
John sums up an interesting story about the recent find of King Richard III remains with a classic Shep quote.

>>> Article. . . <<<

February 4, 2013
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courtesy Don Knowlton
New Shep Blog
Jean Shepherd Quest
Jean Shepherd Author and Historian Eugene B. Bergmann has begun a blog in his 'quest for Shep'. Watch for new entries as he is inspired to open our eyes to more conversation about Shep.

>>> Shepquest website. . . <<<

February 1, 2013
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Ed Koch remembered
Former Mayor Ed Koch passed away at 2A.M. There are two commercials for the re-election of Ed Koch for Congressman. On the October 28 and 29, 1974 Jean Shepherd shows.
January 10, 2013
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Playbill Drawings: A Christmas Story
by : Ken Fallin - Illustrator
Illustrator Ken Fallin specializes in charicature style and does a lot of wotk for the Wall Street Journal and PLAYBILL.com. He explains in his blog about doing his latest one based on the successful musical adaptation od A Christmas Story, which just finished an 8 week run on Broadway.

>>> Article. . . <<<

December 12, 2012
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A Look At Jean Shepherd's Cincinnati
by John Kiesewetter
John Kiesewetter wrote an interesting Blog and associated story for Cincinnati.com about the early years of Shep's radio career in Ohio.

>>> Article. . . <<<

November 26, 2012
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Jean Shepherd (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Jean Shepherd Revisited! A Christmas Story - The Musical Should Not Be Missed!
by: Ann Liguori
Ann Liguori who interviewed Shep in 1997 for WFAN wrote a review about the ACS Musical for the CBS New York website: The Holidays are officially upon us. Let the festivities continue! And although the Knicks and the Giants should put a smile on your face with their play of late, if you're looking for a show that delivers a winning outcome every time and assures fun for the entire family, I highly recommend you see A Christmas Story - The Musical, playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. . .

>>> Article. . . <<<

November 20, 2012
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A Christmas Story: The Musical
Broadway Opening
The musical version of A Christmas Story opened on Monday night at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater to positive reviews.
continued...
November 9, 2012
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More Early Shep radio
Thanks to John Edwards for this heads up on an ad for WSAI which shows Shep working for the station in 1947. It was previously known he worked there from July 1949 to March 1951. The earliest listing I could find was from January 30, 1947 and the latest was June 3, 1947, however the ad was from August 25, 1947 indicating he was working there as part of the daytime lineup. We do know that he worked at WKRC in March 1949, It was also said he worked as an announcer for WCKY in 1948 but I have not been able to confirm that.
>>> continued. . .
November 3, 2012
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A Christmas Story 2
Review
In 1994 the 1st 'sequel' to "A Christmas Story" came out and in Jean Shepherd's own words it was a 'turkey'. It was directed by Bob Clark, written by Shepherd, Clark, and Leigh Brown (same as ACS) using his stories that he told for so many years and most importantly, it was narrated by Jean Shepherd whose golden voice provided much of the magic in all his movies. But as Shepherd admitted later the casting was terrible. Fast forward to early 2012 when it was announced there would be a sequel. Very little was known about it and it wasn't until the trailer hit that we had any inkling as to what it was about. Now we know...
>>> full review. . .
November 2, 2012
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R.L. Stine Is a Disney Freak
New York Magazine
Turns out R.L. Stine is a fan of Shepherd

>>> New York Magazine. . . <<<

October 27, 2012
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"Jean Shepherd Radio Classics"
Staten Island Community Television, channel 34
Pete Delaney's newest episode of "Jean Shepherd Radio Classics" will be aired on the dates below. If you are looking for it in the SICTV listings they have it as: "Music Radio: Jean Shepahard 2" The featured show is "The Bolus' Wedding" from March 13, 1968

>>> Staten Island Community Television. . . <<<

October 18, 2012
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Shepfest "12"
The Depot - Cold Springs, New York - Saturday - October 27, 2012 - 1:00pm
Join the fun and talk some 'Shep' Inspired in 2002 by a group of Shep fans who wanted to get together and meet each other face to face after years of email exchanges, the "Shepfest" was born. The tradition continues for the 12th time. This year where it all began in 2002 - Cold Springs, NY

>>> Cold Spring Depot website. . . <<<

October 15, 2012
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Shep's Army
A new book by Eugene B. Bergmann
A collection of Army Stories as told on the radio by Jean Shepherd and edited by Gene Bergmann.

>>> Link to book. . . <<<

October 4, 2012
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More Than 'A Christmas Story': Remembering Jean Shepherd, Radio's Great Teller of Tales
by Rob Bates
Shep fan and site contributor Rob Bates wrote this article on Shep for the Splitsider website.

>>> Article. . . <<<

September 6, 2012
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A Christmas Story 2
See the Trailer
And Shep thought My Summer Story was a real turkey!

>>> Youtube video. . . <<<

August 10, 2012
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A Christmas Story 2
Coming October 30, 2012 on Video
Straight to DVD this one doesn't even make it to the theatres. It was filmed in Canada earlier this year and picks up the story with a young adult Ralphie.
>>> continued. . .
July 3, 2012
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Jean Shepherd's Fourth of July
by John M. Whalen
John Whalen wrote this blog about the 4th of July and what it meant to him and Shep.

>>> John's Blog. . . <<<

May 13, 2012
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Carnegie Hall Poster
September 14, 1974
Although there was no program for Shep's September 14, 1974 Concert at Carnegie Hall, there was this poster - courtesy of Pete Delaney.
>>> continued. . .
April 12, 2012
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Shep on the Great American Fourth of July Set
Here's a shot of Shep on the set of Great American Fourth of July with cast members. (L-R) Shep , Jeffery Yonis (Schwartz), William Lampley (Flick), and Matt Dillon (Ralph) Thanks to Jeff and Bill for sharing this with us.
>>> continued. . .
March 25, 2012
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Shep as Santa
A Bozo Christmas
A copy of Shep's appearance is available for viewing on the Museum of Broadcast Communications website. www.museum.tv. Shep plays the part of Santa on this 30 minute episode in which he appears and narrates.
>>> continued. . .
February 7, 2012
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The Paley Center for Media
Jerry Seinfeld
Here's a 4 minute clip of the event which took place January 23, 2012
>>> continued. . .
January 20, 2012
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A Christmas Story Too
Casting is under way for "A Christmas Story Too" - a feature film follow-up to the beloved classic, to be directed by Brian Levant ('Beethoven," "Are We There Yet?" "Jingle All the Way," etc.)...

>>> Website. . . <<<

January 4, 2012
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Remembering Master Storyteller, Jean Shepherd: With Jerry Seinfeld and Keith Olbermann
The Paley Center For Media - New York
Monday - January 23, 2012 - 6:00 PM Jerry Seinfeld, will talk about how Shepherd influenced his work with Keith Olbermann. Friends and colleagues will also discuss how Shepherd practically invented talk radio.

>>> Website. . . <<<

December 13, 2011
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"Cincinnati Radio"
by Mike Martini
A brief blurb and rare photo of Shep at WSAI Cincinnati in this new book by Mike Martini. With rare and often unpublished images, Cincinnati Radio attempts to capture the first 50 years of that golden era of Cincinnati radio broadcasting in both word and picture.

>>> Website. . . <<<

December 6, 2011
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Mitchell's Drug Store
GARY'S WORLD: BB guns, silver trees and leg lamps, oh my
by Gary Nelson
After his wife nearly wrecks the car after seeing a leg lamp in Mitchell's Drug Store window, Gary writes about the lamp, the story, and some first hand experiences with the real Randy.

>>> Website. . . <<<

October 28, 2011
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Ernie Kovacs and Shep
The Tonight Show
In 1956 Shep appeared on the Tonight Show with host Ernie Kovacs. Ernie did a horizontal split screen, Shep's upper face over Ernie's lower face. While Shep spoke, Ernie 'mouthed' the words. - "Time now for the secret message tonight boys and girls. So set your decoder pins at B-12." Is it possible this was part of a promotional tour for his first album "Into the Unknown with Jazz Music on which in the 9th track he does a bit about setting the decoder ring?
>>> continued. . .
September 5, 2011
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Staten Island Public Access TV
Pete Delaney strikes again!
Good News - After 19 years ( ! ) Staten Island Public Access TV finally switched from expensive professional video tapes to store-bought DVD-R's. Now I am able to do a variety of shows there similar to my live movie shows at the National Parks. My first effort is "JEAN SHEPHERD RADIO CLASSICS" an occasional series where I present some of my favorite WOR shows. First Up: "The Boarding House" from 1972. It will be on Monday September 5, 12 and 19 at 1PM on Ch. 34 (of course only available to Staten Islanders).
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