Post staffers on WLW's Gary Burbank show today
Tomorrow is local radio personality Gary Burbank's last day live on WLW before he retires (re-runs will continue through the end of the year). When Cincinnati Post staffer Rick Bird interviewed Burbank for a story that appeared last week, Burbank offered to have a Post-themed "Sports or Consequences" as a tribute to the newspaper before it closes for good - after 126 years of service to the community - Dec. 31. Today is the big radio gig, from 4 to 6 p.m. on 700 WLW-AM. Tune in (listen live online) and call in, if you can.
I'll be there, along with about six or seven of my Post colleagues. Can't wait. I've been a Burbank fan for about as long as I can remember. I have never met him, so I am looking forward to the opportunity to shake his hand and thank him for all the laughs in his 26 years on the radio here.
I have great memories of several of his bits, Gilbert Gnarley - the old slightly dim-witted geezer who would call unsuspecting people on the phone and ask difficult-to-surmise questions about improbable situations or problems while the person on the other end would try to be polite and professional - probably being my favorite character. One of my favorites involved calling a Swallen's department store and asking about nitro glycerin's flammability.
I also remember him poking fun of Jerry Springer and Norma Rashid - the top-rated WLWT-TV news anchor team in the late 1980s and early 1990s - Jerry squeezing Norma's magic shoulder pads to save them from trouble.
So, it's neat to get to be a teeny, tiny part of this Cincinnati institution. I'm glad Burbank has asked The Post to be a part of the fun. Listen today and I'll try to get a least one question right...