Gary LaPierre of WBZ Radio 1030 retires Friday (12/29) after being the morning news anchor at the station for 40 years. Believe it or not when he started doing the morning news at WBZ the station was the king of teenagers in New England with it's Top 40 format only to be toppled 2 years later by WRKO. The station slowly switched to a more news/talk format and those teenagers grew up and continued to listen. Chances are many of you woke up to Gary every morning. He was the voice of school and work cancellations in major storms and when a crisis was happening in the real world many of us would listen to him.
20 years ago I used to work nights and I would see Gary at the end of my day at a long forgotten breakfast place in North Cambridge called Vic's. He would drag himself in for breakfast and coffee and he looked miserable being up so early. He would quietly read the Globe and Herald while eating then continue into work. But there is one morning I will never forget.
The all night waitress was a working mother named Louisa and she had been in a panic as she could not find a Cabbage Patch Doll for her daughter anywhere. On Christmas Eve morning Gary came in with a Cabbage Patch Doll for her. It was a wonderful Christmas moment.
Dean Johnson on the WBZ website
offers a tribute to Gary as does Jessica Heslam in the Herald. The Associated Press also covered Gary's retirement.Good Luck Gary in your retirement and enjoy sleeping in every morning. Boston and New England will miss you very much.
2 comments:
very little news was heard on WBZ Friday morning as "Official Boston" stopped by the WBZ studios in Allston to say goodbye to Gary
Gary LaPierre gives his final broadcast on WBZ
I may not have always agreed with LaPierre's politics (would often turn off WBZ when "LaPierre On The Loose" came on) but he was a consummate professional, a great radio man and I'll miss his voice in the morning, especially at the top of the hour.
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