Hey, there! Log in / Register
One of the Car Talk guys has died
By adamg on Mon, 11/03/2014 - 3:29pm
Tom (c) and Ray Magliozzi at Honk in Somerville in 2007. Photo by Greg Cook.
WBUR reports that Tom Magliozzi, co-host of Car Talk with his brother Ray, has died at 77. Greg Cook reports the cause was complications of Alzheimer's.
In a statement, the station says:
No one could have imagined, when two native Cambridge guys came into the WBUR studios in 1977 and started taking listeners’ calls about cars, that they would change public radio forever. But in fact that is exactly what happened.
“Genius comes in many forms, and we know that Tom’s came in the form of laughter,” said WBUR General Manager Charlie Kravetz. “Everyone who loves Car Talk starts with the same question, ‘Which one has the laugh?’ - that was Tommy. He was the definition of self-deprecation as he made fun of everyone, but first and foremost himself. He was smart and wise and funny: an unbeatable combination.”
WBUR says the show started when it invited six local mechanics to field car questions from listeners - and only Tom Magliozzi showed up.
The next week, he came back with his little brother and fellow mechanic, Ray.
For the next 10 years, the brothers did the show locally at WBUR, on a volunteer basis. Slowly, they injected more and more humor and off-topic diversions into their discussions of carburetors and wheel bearings - following their natural curiosity and pushing the limits for what was then a typically decorous public radio station. “Since we weren’t making any money,” Tom once said, “we figured we might as well have fun.”
The brothers’ unique combination of hilarious, self-deprecating banter and trustworthy advice was picked up by NPR in 1987, and Car Talk soon became the network’s most popular entertainment program ever, reaching audiences of more than four million people a week. The program has continued to be a top-rated show on NPR stations in syndication, even after the brothers stopped recording new shows in 2012.
WBUR will air a special Car Talk rebroadcast tonight at 9 p.m. on 90.9 FM and live-streaming on www.wbur.org. A memorial tribute Car Talk program will air on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 11 a.m.
Topics:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Another good guy gone
Great guy, great show, great garage. I'll miss him on Sunday nights. Sympathies to Ray and the rest of the family.
Don't drive like my brother!
Yep - the kept the garage going because they needed a place to muck around. Maker people 1.0. Great idea, great guys, and ultimately great service to a lot of folks.
Tom - long may you run!
www.youtube.com/watch?v
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nszR0tfp4Es
A real Boston original.
A real Boston original.
Not from Boston
Cambridge. Very different - just ask half the people around here about how Cambridge is a suburb, etc.
Oh just give it a rest
It's not like there's a shark-filled moat between us and Cambridge over which we pull up the bridges at night. In the meantime, RIP, Tom.
It's not like there's a shark
Oh my god, filling the Charles with sharks sounds like the best idea ever. No one in their right mind goes swimming in there anyway, and it would add some much needed excitement to tr Head of the Charles.
Wow
Your correction is technically correct and completely meaningless. If I give you a gold star, will you go away forever?
For future reference, there
For future reference, there are situations where the opportunity to get in a dig should probably be let go. This is one of them.
The Car Talk guys would never
The Car Talk guys would never have missed an opportunity to get in a good dig. Why start now?
You're wrong
Not like this. You're just carping. They never carped like that.
Well, they recorded the show
Well, they recorded the show in Boston... That should be enough.
Office in Cambridge
Dewey, Cheetham & Howe office in Harvard Square.
No reason to go there
But since you did, keep in mind that WBUR broadcasts from... Boston. Rest in peace Tom, you are one of the many reasons I treasure Boston.
Will miss
the laugh.
Best laugh on radio
Best laugh on radio
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn3Sqa4nRtA
Name another radio show like theirs
Man, try to come up with another modern day radio show that had the popularity and range of listeners that Car Talk had. And it's a classic. And it was on NPR! Who would think? I love the fact that their show agonized some of the NPR crowd.
Tommy, you were great. Thanks for the laughs.
We're losing some good Toms...
Tom Shaw, Progressive Bishop of the Massachusetts Episcopal Diocese
(funeral last Saturday)
Tom Menino, Mayor
(funeral today)
Tom Magliozzi, Good News Garage and Car Talk Humorist
(died today)
All rest well. All will be missed.
Sympathies with all.
Really Nice Guy
Back in the late 90s, my old POS Chevy Blazer croaked on Albany St. just around the corner from Good News Garage. I managed to coax it to a spot just out front of the shop. The next morning I called and they said they'd bring it in to take a look. Later that afternoon, my phone rang and a voice I instantly recognized said "Hi, this is Tom calling from Good News Garage. I've got some bad news...." I just cracked up. We chewed the fat for about ten minutes and joked about how they always had him call when it was bad news. I've never been so happy to get a "bad news" phone call. He was just a genuinely nice, gregarious person. I feel lucky to have been able to listen to him for the last couple of decades. Thanks Tom!
When Tom or Ray called you knew you were in trouble
I once got the dreaded Good News Garage phone call from Ray. Before he could begin, I asked him what the cut-off was for hearing directly from either him or Tom. He knew exactly what I was talking about and said something like: "Oh, I think it's currently at $950..."
A coworker had been a neighbor
She got her car worked on by them for years after - and they would help her shop for a used car once her cars died. She was pretty down today, even though she knew them and knew it was coming.
Can you imagine putting your car up for sale in the WantAdVertizer and having these guys turn up?
Tom Magliozzi who, along with
... Heheh. Aw.
That made my morning - thanks!
n/t
At first
I could not understand why my neighbors needed to stay at home on Saturday Nights back in the day.
God Bless You, the other Tommy from North of the Chah'lse.
I expect to see a cartoon ...
of Tom arriving at the Pearly Gates in his '63 Dodge Dart.
The New Yorker remembers Click
Here.
My Heart's Sorrow
sat, Nov 8, 2014. Listening to Car Talk for several years now, I was hit out of the Blue hearing Ray express the death of Tommy. I had to go online to read it; my mind felt like it was reeling and I just refuse to accept it. Every Sat I listened to both broadcast's because they made my weekend. Even when suffering migraines and vertigo, I could still manage to at least smile, listening to these two wonderful characters. Today, I had bitter-sweet emotions listening to past broadcast and yet knowing Tommy was gone. I can't express the profound sadness I'm feeling; I've loved these guys as though I knew them, personally. I had the chance to be on air about 30 mos ago asking about transmission problem of 4 years and they were right on. My Saturdays will never be the same for a very, painful long time to come. My heartfelt prayers are with Ray and the family for one, so special to us all, that has left this life. Thank you Tom and Ray for several years of making me laugh, sometimes almost to tears. Even now, my heart is sad, this day, when their Sat Broadcasts left me laughing. My 38 y/0 son, who visits on the weekend was hear and he, too, is sad to hear, and more sad for me, knowing how much I love these guys. GOD BLESS!
Today's show was great
Man, it one straight hour of all-out laughing. We didn't want to get out of the car.