A man with a gun...

“I am not now...nor have I ever been...a member of the Communist Party of the United States, Senator!”

America went through all that until my tv news hero Ed Murrow put a stop to it.  (see George Clooney’s fine movie about that.)

In Kansas City...St.Louis and later Milwaukee I apparently espoused views a bit to the left and this pissed a lot of listeners off.

That apparently included my first love...my cousin Jerry who lived with my Aunt and Uncle in suburban St. Louis and tested my show and found it wanting.  I was never invited to dinner...despite my Mother being a sister to Jerry’s Mom.  Or maybe Jerry got wind of my weird emotions about her at a young age and that put her off.  Even when she and her husband moved to St. Petersburg/Clearwater and I worked there at length two different times...(local and network)

I was never able to get her on the phone.

So...some folks do have strong feelings and one guy took me seriously and was in the WIL Radio building with a gun looking for me while I was on the air.  He didn’t find me...thank god...and the cops scouring the stairs and hallways never found him either...but it still made the front page of the Post Dispatch which did not make my new boss happy.

I figured I was not long for St. Louis and I was right. In greeting the General Manager who had hired me away from Kansas City in the hallway some days later...he got unusually close to me and shouted...”Major...you’ve been drinking!”

I was stunned...and retorted that I only have a drink late at night in my hotel...and what he was sniffing was my cologne!

His response was “You’re fired!”  And that was it.

So I did talk in St. Louis (this time) for a couple of months and found myself out of a job and back home in Mt. Prospect with my folks.

I say “this time” because later when I started American’s first live all night national talk program a St. Louis station WGNU would pick me up quickly and stay with me for years and years through about five network changes.  They were GREAT!

So I had down time in Chicago to stalk my next door neighbor, Jackie and bug her parents to no end...and I had a great time in the Windy City...renewing female acquaintances who enjoyed my company!

stanmajor@aol.com