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The hypocrisy and difficulty of the 20th century is something which everyone knows but seldom discusses - except Jean Shepherd.
What the world is about is Mr. Shepherd's favorite subject. He touches upon a great number of topics on his Monday through Saturday radio program on WOR-AM. His sarcastic wit has earned him a faithful audience from Canada to Bermuda.
MSC was fortunate enough to have Jean Shepherd appear here on Tuesday, March 5, as a part of the C.L.U.B. lecture series.
Born in the Midwest, Mr. Shepherd worked as a sports announcer in Chicago while still in his teens. Following two years in the Signal Corps from 1944-46, he used the G.I. Bill to attend Northwestern, then the University of Chicago, and finally Indiana University, never receiving a diploma.
He then took a radio commentator's job at WSAI in Cincinnati in 1949 where, he says, his free form style of show "just evolved." He came to New York in 1955, and while working the rounds of agents and producers was offered an all-night radio job at WOR. Except for a short-lived show on WOR-TV in 1960 he has been on the radio ever since.
He is unique, not only in his ability to talk so much, but in his sheet artistry with the spoken word. His monologues, which usually ramble in fits and starts through patchwork fields of nostalgia, satire, and incisive observation, invariably include at least one beautifully told story in which he provides not only the narrative, but sound effects and evocative imagery that uncannily awaken the memories and imagination of his listeners.
Besides hosting one of the liveliest radio shows in the country, Mr. Shepherd is also an accomplished writer. He is the author of a book, IN GOD WE TRUST, ALL OTHERS PAY CASH, several screenplays and a forthcoming Broadway play. Also, he has been a contributor to many leading magazines including Playboy, where one of his short stories won the 1965 Humor/Satire Award. |
