Marshall McLuhan hailed Jean Shepherd as the "first radio novelist," but Shep was much more, notably a jazz soloist improvising irreverently on his life and times. Broadcasting on WOR from 1956 to '77, Shepherd enthralled late-night listeners on the east coast his Scheherazade-like tales with tales, all recited with exquisite detail without a script. His intimate and hilarious remembrances were also adapted into stories for Playboy, shows for public television, and the iconic A Christmas Story. One master comedian who follows in his observational tradition, Jerry Seinfeld, will talk about how Shepherd influenced his work. Friends and colleagues will also discuss how Shepherd practically invented talk radio.
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| Keith Olbermann did not attend and was replaced by Bill Carter of the NY Times
On hand in the audience was author Eugene Bergmann, Irwin Zwilling executor of the Shepherd estate, and Nick Mantis film maker who is working on a documentary about Shepherd. |
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