One of my favorite guys in radio is hanging it up on Friday.
Bob Kelly has been a Toledo morning man since the mid 1960's and a real local touchstone for so many Toledoans at so many stops on the dial. WTOD, WOHO, WCWA--paired with Dennis Staples from this point forward--, WXKR, and for the last 18 years playing the oldies at WRQN.
I think it has not been nearly as fun for Bob since Dennis retired nearly 5 years ago , then passed away shortly thereafter from a contaminated Heparin dose while receiving dialysis.
I worked with Bob & Dennis, so I'm biased. Both of them were always great, sarcastic, and deadly funny off the air (as they were on the air) and treated a teenage intern (me at the start of my career) as well as any "important" person. No matter what your morning show tastes are, to survive 50 years doing radio, 46 of those years in one town (except for a brief trip to Detroit in the 1970's), is a hell of a career.
His final broadcast for WRQN is Friday. Tune by if you can.
Maybe I'm old fashioned, but listening to him was always a joy. No "Shock Jock" or offensive radio and not too political. I hope he enjoys a long and rewarding retirement.
No more Mary Worth, those great sponsors that she had and whatever will Niles McKinley, Jr. do now??????
He is a living legend. His way with words, the old "Word of the Day" bit, was original and always very funny. I've had the pleasure of doing business with him, advertising and public appearences, for almost as long as he has been in Toledo. I wish him all the best in his well deserved retirement. I wonder if he will be able to sleep-in?
Bob Kelly will be missed - no one else in the Toledo market has his class, his humor, and his timing. Bob can make even the corniest old joke sound funny again, and what will Toledo be without Niles McKinley, Jr. every morning? By the way, Niles McKinley, Jr. must be the hardest working person in show business: dude has been in thousands of Mary Worth sketches alone, and I am pretty sure he has acted in 10,147 films (I arrived at this figure by counting his roles on IMDB using my fingers and toes, though for most of these I substituted "Niles McKinley, Jr." for other names, like John Wayne and Russell Crowe and Imogene Coca, while the rest of the roles are an estimate).
I wish him the very best.
I must admit, I think it's a touch overdue (his retirement) but hey if people still enjoyed listening to him, more power to him. Personally, I didn't find him funny anymore, his humor was too, 1960-ish for me.
I actually thought he retired a long time ago. Best of luck to him, a local radio celebrity who has done a lot of good for the listening area.
"Come get me, mother, I'm thru!"
Best in retirement, Bob Kelly. Thanks for being a big part of my childhood!
I do wonder, is "Perry Chair" still comfy to sit in these days?
be well!