RIP Tom Magliozzi, co-host of Car Talk

Dead at 77 from Alzheimer's:

http://www.npr.org/2014/11/03/357428287/tom-magliozzi-popular-co-host-of-nprs-car-talk-dies-at-77?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

 

Damn. Damn. Damn.

Really liked those guys. Had no idea he was 77. Does explain why they closed up shop last year.

RIP, Clack.

 

Crud. One of my favorite things about Saturday mornings, even though it's been reruns since their closing. RIP.

 

I grew up listening to Car Talk on Sundays. This was one of my favorite NPR shows. So sorry to read this.

RIP

 

I'll miss his big infectious laugh.

I wonder what the hell comprises "complications of Alzheimers".

 

Alzheimers famously causes you to lose your memory, but it also is very debilitating to the point where your body finally shuts down. It may not be the direct cause of death, but it could be a contributing factor to the heart stopping or pneumonia. From personal experience, I've seen people who were frail and bed ridden at the very end.

Not sure if that was the case here, but Alzheimers is a very ugly disease and a very painful one to watch as someone goes through its progression.

 

Don't drive like my brother.

 

I never tuned into the show in hopes they were going to convince me I would want to try to change my transmission. Like many listeners, I suspect, the only things I know about my car is how to get in without setting off the alarm, how to turn it on and off and where to put the gear shift in order to make it go in the direction I want. But my wife and never missed a show. I loved the fact they never took themselves seriously.

They told a story of a friend driving through a neighborhood, seeing a stack of 4'x8' sheets of plywood sitting at a construction site, and the friend trying to get 20 sheets home on top of his compact car . . . and the catastrophic results; I don't think I ever laughed so hard in my life.

RIP.

 

I remember a show when a woman called in to ask if there was reason to have a car in the city. Eventually, she mentioned that she got in trouble for eating a bagel on the subway and it evolved from there into the story of why Doug "The Subway Fugitive, Not a Slave to Fashion, Bongo Boy" Berman is "The Subway Fugitive." Just cracked me up.

My favorite part of the show is always the silly names in the closing credits. Among my favorites: official food taster Howard M. Burgers, Israeli video director Shlomo Replay, scheduling coordinator Stu Early, fix-it lady Anita Hammer, seat cushion tester Mike Easter, French accountant Count de Monet and, of course, Russian chauffeur Pikop Andropov.

So long, Tom. See you at the Horseshoe Road Inn.

 

Ray Magliozzi will host a special tribute edition of "Car Talk" this weekend. Check your local NPR affiliate's schedules (or CarTalk.com, though not the shameless commerce division.)

 

Yes, I think it's on at 10 am on WNYC here in the city.

 

Bump. Should be starting now on a lot of east coast stations.