A few years ago I received an email from a guy in Raleigh, North Carolina, who claimed to be the host of a morning radio show at a local adult alternative station. Somehow he’d stumbled across the Surf Report, and was writing to tell me how much he was enjoying it.
Near the end of the note he mentioned that some of my updates were tailor-made for “performance.” He wanted to know if I’d be interested in possibly reading a few of them on his show.
Without thinking twice about it, I told him no. I’m not a “performer,” I’m a pasty-skinned guy who sits in a tiny room and types. I’m no good at public speaking, or even being the center of attention at a dinner party. Just the thought of going on the air with him, with the expectation of being funny, made my sphincter wink.
But he wouldn’t let it drop, and finally convinced me. He said we could record it, rather than going on live, and he’d fix any mistakes I might make, etc.
We probably did fifteen installments, before there was a format change at the station and we had to put the questionable exercise on hold. But, he assured me, we’d have it back up and running in no time. In fact, he said, we should think about syndicating it. Gulp.
During that period Jack Boston (as he was known on the air) and I became friends. We spoke on the phone many times, and our personalities and senses of humor meshed nicely.
Jack was no over-caffeinated morning show buffoon, going for the cheap laughs and non-stop sexual innuendo. He was smart and genuinely funny, and had an ability to root out the absurdity in everyday life. Our weekly over-the-phone recording sessions featured a lot of laughter – before we even got to the task at hand.
I remember one conversation in particular. He was telling me about a picture that had appeared in the Raleigh News & Observer. He said it showed some guy holding a big pot of soup, or something, and one of his hands was ghost white, for reasons unknown.
While we were talking I found the picture online, and we spent the next ten minutes riffing on that guy’s one freakishly white hand. I wish I had a tape of the conversation, because it was hilarious. Much funnier than any of my wooden “readings.”
One day Jack sent me an excited email, telling me he’d been chosen to host North Carolina’s Morning News, proclaiming it his dream job. This was a prestigious position, at a powerhouse station, and he’d be only the fourth host of the show since 1952.
I congratulated him, and followed it up with another message a week later. “How’s the new gig going?” I asked. And his answer was terrible.
He’d been feeling exhausted, and went to see his doctor on the afternoon of his very first show. Blood tests indicated he was suffering from “myoblastic leukemia,” and they’d immediately begun aggressive chemotherapy.
Wha’??
I still have that email, and in it he talks about what happened after a doctor uttered the C-word for the first time: Now I’m sure it wasn’t the first time she had been called that by a future patient, but I’m certain I delivered it with much more elan than the others.
That was roughly two years ago, and Jack went into remission at one point, and returned to the air. I was relieved and hopeful, but when he suffered a relapse, I feared the worst.
I kept checking on him, but his responses became more and more infrequent. Eventually I stopped hearing from him at all, and then I read the sad news of his passing earlier this week.
I’m glad to have known Jack Boston, even if it was only through email and phone conversations. He was a great guy, and my most sincere condolences go out to his family and real-life friends.
I have a feeling, however, he wouldn’t be comfortable with our grieving. During the entire affair he seemed absolutely positive, never negative. Indeed, this is the way he closed one of the last emails I received from him:
In the words of I think it was Ol’ Lodge Feathers in the film Little Big Man, “My heart is soaring like a hawk.”
i am sorry for the loss of your phone friend jeff
RIP.
Or the More internet centric
.
so sorry….
Sorry, Jeff.
Seems like the good ones always go too soon.
Too bad about Jack. I was a fan of the radio segments uploaded to the Surf Report a few years ago, despite the claim by their author/narrator of “woodenness,” and always wished there were more. RIP.
Are those radio programs archived anywhere? You know we want to listen.
Sorry to hear this. It’s tough to lose a friend.
Jeff,
I was jealous of Jack for finding you well before I did, and I’m in the back yard.
I listened to a few of the appearances on your archives. Good stuff. Sorry for the loss.
My PD once asked me to contact you to see if you would be interested in a weekend show. Then you did the post about the “auction guy” on our station on Sundays and how much “fun” weekend local talk on radio is to listen to. Didn’t think that you’d want to be a part of the “fun” bunch.
I look foreward to your posts everyday.
Sorry to hear about Jack… I’ll down an extra vodka rocks for him tonight… there’s really no reason to sober up at this point in the week.
Sad. Cancer is a Bitch. There is love in the memories though. He must have been a good guy.
Jeff,
Here’s one for your further evidence column
Sorry Jeff I know he meant alot to you!
My sympathies, Jeff.
Sorry to hear about Jack. God.
Too young. My condolences.
Jeff
Would you re-post the segments you did for Jack?
I think it would honor him.
Seems there are a few reporters who have not heard them.
I would like to hear them again myself
Shit Jeff….this is a complete and utter bummer of an update.
I think Jack would agree with me on this. In keeping with the highly insensitive nature of the humor that has become a hallmark of this website we should all lift a leg and fire off a power fart into the upholstry of a doctor’s office couch as a final tribute.
Jack, this leg lifter is for you man……
Buck Out
Dear Lord, why did you have to take a good one. You can have Neal Boortz, Dr Mike Savage and Rush Limbaugh in trade, or even take a bunch of politicians. Oh, they’re going the other way. Sorry I asked. Forgive me Lord for wishful thinking. Smile Jeff , God needs his humor about now. Jack was one of the best. He was the only reason I listened to PTF. I lost my best friend and brother several years ago to a tragic event. My brother’s girlfiend at the time attacked him while he was sleeping and stabbed him multiple times in the back. Her reason was because he refused to give her money to buy crack. He had lived through an accident that would have taken his life as a teen. He made it through two tours in Viet Nam after receiving shrapnel wounds while carry a buddy of his to safety. So sometimes death makes no sense. If you believe, Jack is now in a better place and the pain and discomfort of life is no longer his burden. Jack is in the hands of God. Amen my brothers and sisters, Amen.
Buck, I’m trying to be sincere and here you go having me laugh my ass off so much, I farted in my cubicle.
Way to go Buck!!!! I just tried my best to cut a good one in my office and shit my pants. Now I have to sneak out and throw my underwear away in the dumpster. Thanks buddy !!!
Buck, you are the man!
Jeff, you are very fortunate to have known someone so great. People like that are few and far between.
(I realize that you already know that)
I never heard him on local radio, but I remember when you posted about him and getting that email. Sorry, Jeff.
Hey Buck. I just ripped one. Excellent fragrance, too. The dog is sniffing the air enjoying it with me. For you, Jack.
Sorry to hear it, Jeff.
Jeff, I’m sorry for the loss of your friend. But in the vein of ripping one, and for Buck, I have to post this.
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/29653059.html#
I just got home from the funeral home for visitation for a 7-month-old baby, so this struck me a little hard. Sometimes life just sucks. I’m ready to go to bed.
Jack Boston was an excellent radio host. He was funny, smart – and utterly irreverent. He often made my morning commute more tolerable with his wit and goofy charm.
The Raleigh, NC airwaves aren’t as bright as they were in the days of 102.9.
Guys,
Just happened to stumble across this message board, and read the kind words about my father. He was a man that never would let you frown upon a day that could be seized; I not only looked up to my father…but sat back in awe of how he stole the show.
I will miss him every second of every moment forever…..The tears are beginning to slow down, and the sorrow is getting a bit better each day.
I am going to be setting up a Charity Golf tournament with the help of some good friends for 2009.
Please feel free to shoot me an email at
[email protected]
Thanks
Corey Rush
Hey everybody, like my older brother Corey I have just stumbled across this as well. It isn’t my first time on this site tho.
My father loved to spend countless hours on this website reading articles & looking through the archives. Many times he asked (forced) me to take the time to read this blog everyday. He said it really brightened up his day and Jeff Kay’s humor was very similar to his and that I would love it. I checked it everyday for awhile before I got a new laptop & lost the link.
Thank you Jeff so much. My father would be so tickled that you put up a whole entry about him. You are 100% right, he wouldn’t want us to dwell on his passing, he would want us to continue doing what we do while keeping him in thought. As my brother said, we plan to start a charity golf tournament to continue the legacy of his much heralded name…JACK BOOOOOOOSTON.
He gave up golf to raise his two children, now he has all the time in the world to play at his own will.
We’ll always be thinking about you dad.
[email protected]
Feel free to email me Jeff, I would love to keep in contact because my dad was your biggest fan.
Hi Jeff,
I’m Jacks’s brother. And like my nephews, two of the most amazing young men you will ever meet, I’m deeply sadden by my brothers passing. One of his favorite sayings” If you start the game, finish the game.” He would be tickled with all the attention. But, If he returned to your site time after time, he would want you to finish the game by continuing with your what you have begun. He truly was a man created in God’s image. Know he would not want anyone sadden by this unfortunate turn of events. Continue with your site because if it caught his attention your doing something right. To everyone else thanks for the kind remarks and may his soul look over all of you.