Posted on 11/03/2014 11:54:49 AM PST by raccoonradio
Tom Magliozzi, one of public radio's most popular personalities, died on Monday of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 77 years old.
Tom and his brother, Ray, became famous as "Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers" on the weekly NPR show Car Talk. They bantered, told jokes, laughed and sometimes even gave pretty good advice to listeners who called in with their car troubles.
If there was one thing that defined Tom Magliozzi, it was his laugh. It was loud, it was constant, it was infectious.
Tom and Ray grew up great friends despite a 12-year gap between them. Both graduated from MIT before going into the car repair business.
"His laugh is the working definition of infectious laughter," says Doug Berman, the longtime producer of Car Talk. He remembers the first time he ever encountered Magliozzi.
"Before I ever met him, I heard him, and it wasn't on the air," he recalls.
Berman was the news director of WBUR at the time.
"I'd just hear this laughter," he says. "And then there'd be more of it, and people would sort of gather around him. He was just kind of a magnet."
The Magliozzi brothers grew up in a tough neighborhood of East Cambridge, Mass., in a close-knit Italian family. Tom was 12 years older, the beloved older brother to Ray. They liked to act like they were just a couple of regular guys who happened to be mechanics, but both of them graduated from MIT.
After getting out of college, Tom Magliozzi went to work as an engineer. One day he had a kind of epiphany, he told graduates when he and Ray gave the 1999 commencement address at their alma mater.
He was on his way to work when he had a near-fatal accident with a tractor-trailer. He pulled off the road and decided to do something different with his life.
"I quit my job," he said. "I became a bum. I spent two years sitting in Harvard Square drinking coffee. I invented the concept of the do-it-yourself auto repair shop, and I met my lovely wife."
Well, he wasn't exactly a bum; he worked as a consultant and college professor, eventually getting a doctoral degree in marketing. And Tom and Ray Magliozzi did open that do-it-yourself repair shop in the early '70s. They called it Hackers Heaven. Later they opened a more traditional car repair shop called the Good News Garage.
They got into radio by accident when someone from the local public radio station, WBUR, was putting together a panel of car mechanics for a talk show.
"They called Ray, and Ray thought it was a dumb idea, so he said, 'I'll send my brother' and Tom thought, 'Great, I'll get out of breaking my knuckles for a couple of hours.' And he went over and he was the only one who showed up," Berman says.
Berman says the station liked what Tom did and asked him to come back the next week. This time he brought Ray. The rest, as they say, is history.
In 1987 Car Talk went national on NPR. The Magliozzi brothers were a huge success. Listeners loved their blend of humor, passion, expertise and just plain silliness.
Terribly sad. We’ll miss them. Prayers for the repose of his soul, and for his family.
Sad to hear. Theirs was the only NPR program that didn’t make me hurl.
Makes me sad. I listen to their older shows almost every day on SiriusXM.
I didn’t listen to the show religiously but every time I did I learned something, and every time I did, I laughed.
RIP
Seattle’s got KPLU, their NPR station. They’ve got great jazz on the weekend, All Blues on Friday night, and on Sunday mornings, Car Talk.
I am dead set against tax payer supported radio, but these guys were so good. What a blow. No politics, good laughs, great advice on cars.
They’d have these GORGEOUS CHICKS call in (and yes, you really can tell by their voices), and have a BLAST with them...before giving them some useful advice.
Having turned a wrench or two in my day, I can only say that I have TOTAL RESPECT for them and wish that I could have gotten to know some of their callers.
Funny, funny guys.
He will be missed.
I used to get airchecks of All Blues from a “tape trader” in the area.
Agreed...
I don’t think it’s there anymore but if you were in Harvard Sq Cambridge and looked up at one of the buildings there was a sign for Dewey Cheatham and Howe
OH no. The only thing worth listening to on public radio. Very sad.
One of the brothers would ask the caller, “Does your car mechanic own a boat?” If yes, they would laugh.
As a side note, I used to work with a gal whose husband worked for Volkswagon. I guess he was an engineer but his job was an auto problem solver - a McGyver of sorts.
He'd fly all over the country to dealerships that had maintenance problems on cars they couldn't solve themselves......
via facebook:
>>Really Sad News from Car Talk Plaza
We are truly heartbroken to report to you that one of Car Talk’s hosts, Tom Magliozzi has passed away at the age of 77.
We have more info on our web site, cartalk.com, where we’re also remembering Tom right now with pictures, stories and some of our favorite moments from his remarkable life.
http://www.cartalk.com/blogs/tom-magliozzi-1937
One thing that I will remember about Car Talk is excellence. After all, it was just a program about car repair of all things. Yet, it was done so well that it was one of the best programs on radio.
I wish that we exercised equal excellence in things that mattered much more.
Brilliant of Pixar to include them in “Cars.”
I’m really going to miss them.
I loved to listen to them. They were a laugh and even gave good advice.
That's probably the first time MIT and car repair were in the same sentence.
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