By James Vespe
Westchester-resident Scott Shannon, the Vin Scully of disc jockeys, signed off his final morning show on WCBS-FM on Friday, December 16, after almost 40 years on New York area radio, and what a long and wondrous journey it has been.
For New Yorkers of a certain age, if Dan Ingram and Cousin Brucie provided the sound track of our teen-aged years, Scott Shannon was the voice we listened to when we graduated from pimple creams to pruning shears, got grown-up jobs, married, became parents and homeowners ourselves.
Scott Shannon was the guy down the block who was a little smarter than we were, although he would probably deny it, and didn’t hesitate to wear his heart on his sleeve when he read or heard something that touched him. It was fitting that his final program was his annual fundraiser for Blythedale Children’s Hospital, for which he has raised over four million dollars over several decades, an accomplishment that will surely be better noted at the Pearly Gates than introducing listeners to Charlene’s “I’ve Never Been to Me.”
Forty years ago I had the opportunity to speak with Scott Carpenter, the second American astronaut to orbit the earth, who was probably best known for his comment to John Glenn as Glenn was launched into orbit: “Godspeed, John Glenn”
I couldn’t help but end that conversation with, “Godspeed, Scott Carpenter.”
So if I ever run into Scott Shannon at one of the malls in White Plains, I’ll probably say hello, and close our conversation with…
“Bye, bye buckaroo”
Jim Vespe, Mamaroneck NY
