Tales of the Shep
Contributor's Stories and Comments about Jean Shepherd & These Pages
Volume 5
Date: Wed, 09 Oct 1996 10:07:44 -0400
From: Mark Schaffer <MSCHAFFE@hdqgw.osmre.gov>
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: Shepard on TV In the fifties
I've been enjoying your Shep page and have a neato Shepard trivia fact.
In 1959 or so, I was reading a TV Guide for what was on Friday night. I
was about 11 or so. I'll never forget it because it had to be karma. In
the Guide it said the follwing, and I quote from memory:
Friday 9:30 P.M. - WOR - Jean Shepard - Jean Shepard talks about
anything that comes into his head.
Well, with a promotion like that I had to check it out. So at 9:30 P.M. I
tuned in and was exposed to what would become my first of many
encounters with this remarkable character. Standing on a dark stage,
this casually dressed man proceeded to fill my adolescent brain with all
manner of humorous observations I didn't get. But it was different than
anything I ever saw on the tube. Very weird, this man laughing
sinisterly at his own cleverness. Anyway, it wasn't until 1962 or so
that I discovered Shepard on WOR and was about ready for his gentle
subversion of my already shaken suburban values. The rest is familiar
to any true Shep fan of the early 60s - the senese that you had tapped
into a special unknown world, the knowing greeting of another Shep
follower, the kazoo in the back pocket, the uttering of inane platitiudes -
Keep Your Knees Loose, Its all pap and a yard wide. Ahh. Takes me
back to my misspent youth. You know what would be cool? A Shep
trivia contest. Well, give them a low silouette against the moon, gang.
Excelsior !.
The Lone Twister
Date: Wed, 09 Oct 1996 11:55:59 -0400
From: Susan Scaro <scamp3@ix.netcom.com>
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: "I, Libertine"
Folks:
I didn't read every word of the "Tales" so this thread may have been
cleared up. Anyway, here's the scoop on "I, Libertine.":
It was a paperback original published by Ballentine and written by Shep
and Theodore Sturgeon. Sturgeon was one of the great science fiction
stylists. He also wrote in every genre, including historicals, weterns,
etc.
My paperback price guide is in a box (I just moved) but I remember the
book being fantastically vaulable. The cover is one of those goofy
pseudo-historical illustrations popular on 1950s paperbacks.
Hope this helps.
Mark DiIorio
From: Alan Bartenhagen <NorthernRd@aol.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 1996 16:33:49 -0400
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: Shep
Hi Jim,
I just discovered your Jean Shepherd page. Wonderful job!
Regarding his theme song, back in the early 70's I called WOR to ask about
his theme song, and an engineer indeed told me it was by The Boston Pops. I
eventually bought a copy of the record in a local store, but unfortunately
it's long gone with the wind. Any word if the album is out on CD?
Back in the mid 70's I worked at New Jersey Public Television. I was a good
friend of the producer of Shepherd's Pie, though I left the station shortly
before the show went into production. Although I never got the chance to meet
him, I heard stories about their remote shoots and about how Shep would talk
and tell stories to the crew practically non-stop all day long. I wish I
could have been there.
Thanks again for all you're doing!
Alan Bartenhagen
Saratoga Springs, NY
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 01:11:01 -0400
From: R. Gilchrist Delaney <gddmop@epix.net>
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: Jean Shepherd's military tales
On the back of the bookjacket for "A Fistful of Fig Newtons," it says
that a collection of Shepherd's military stories will soon be
published. My copy of "Fistful" is 12 years old, and I can't find any
evidence in the bookstores that I visit that the military stories ever
got published. I've read lots of them over the years in Playboy, but
never seen them collected. Were they? Will they be? Any idea on their
status at all? Additionally, how about the pieces he wrote for Car &
Driver? Have they ever been collected? And is there an underground
dealing in copies of Shep's PBS stuff? I really would like a clean copy
of Great American Fourth of July, and a complete rundown on all the Jean
Shepherd's America. Sorry this is so long, but I just found your page
and I'm a big Shepherd fan.
Date: Tue, 22 Oct 1996 00:19:28 -0400
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
From: George Fiala <gbrook@pipeline.com>
Subject: Shep on the air in 1996
I forgot to post this here! This was printed in the NY Daily News
on October 1, 1996:
Radio
By David Hinckley
One of the most elusive and revered voices of city radio made a rare, shadowy
return last weekend, when Jean Shepherd sat in for an hour and a half with host
Ann Ligouri and his old friend Irwin Zwilling on WFAN (660 AM).
With little advance fanfare, Shepherd sat down around 2 a.m. Saturday and
started by talking baseball.
A humorist and storyteller noted for his characters and general mastery of the
spoken work, Shepherd hasn't been heard regularly on New York radio for years.
He devotes his time these days to writing, lecturing and "his whole wide variety
of interests," says Zwilling.
"He loves radio, but he has no interest in returning to it full-time" says
Zwilling. There are too many things he wants to do. That's why he left in the
first place - because he needed other outlets to express himself."
What became immediately clear Saturday, however, is that gone doesn't mean
forgotten.
"As soon as Jean came on," says Zwilling, "even the WFAN regulars, the guys who
always talk sports, just wanted to talk about Jean Shpeherd. They'd remember
bits they heard, characters they liked. They asked him to tell a story. One
caller said that at the U.S. Open, he used to give copies of Jean's books to the
lowers, saying the books would cheer them up."
Shepherd listeners know he's always been a passionate fan of the Yankees and
baseball, but his message about the game today was mixed. "He's a purist," says
Zwilling. "He doesn't like the free agency, he doesn't like the juiced up ball.
He thinks they're compromising the beauty of the game he used to love. So he
still sollows it, but not like he once did. He says he'll watch the Series and
root for the Yankees."
Zwilling, an accountant who hosts a sports show on WGBB and occasionally guests
with Ligouri, said Shepherd felt "instantly comfortable" being back on the air.
"Ann has a way of creating an atmosphere that feels like three people sitting in
a living room talking. He had a wonderful time."
It added up to a rare treat for people who happened to be listeneing to WFAN at
2 o'clock Saturday morning. Whether it foreshadows a similar treat for other
Shepherd fans at other hours is not at all certain.
"I wouldn't speak for Jean, but I had the feeling this was a one-time thing."
says Zwilling. "He loves radio, but he's happy with what he's doing now. He
likes his privacy. So when he feels like doing it again, I guess he will."
I wonder if there would be some way to purchase a tape of this appearance. I
was actually listening to the radio in NYC at that time, but I've been
weaned away from the sports station, so I missed it!
George Fiala
Date: Wed, 30 Oct 1996 22:56:13 -0800
From: Edward C. Norton <ecnorton@cape.com>
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: Shep lives!
Discovered your web page on the all-time great story tellers. I
discovered Shep in the mid 1950s, when he was doing the all-night gig on
WOR from the Cartaret, NJ transmitter and doing unheard of
things--developing "the night people" gang, setting the "Libertine" hoax
in motion and hosting "mill-ins" in the Village. I met Shep in 1959 when
I arranged for him to speak at our college class night, perhaps his first
college speaking gig. Later, in the 60s I met him as a journalist and
even did a Sunday magazine article on him. He was then miffed about the
play and movie "A Thousand Clowns," which he said "stole his life."
Thereafter we met at different car shows in Manhattan. Lots of
performers stole his life and it should not be surprising that Hollywood
producers put Tv programs and movies together that stem from the Shep's
eye view of the world. I would like to copy cassette tapes of any of the
old radio shows, if it's possible. Shep tried stand-up on Tv in the 50s
but he was an acquired taste not a slam-bang joke a second type. Didn't
work. Radio was his medium. In the 50s-60s he spoke for an entire
generation of young people striving to make it in New York and he was
successful. I'm sure if it was announced that he was giving a one-man
performance at Carnegie Hall or Town Hall in New York, the lines to the
box office would snake around the block--all those listeners now in their
40s and 50s and older who recall the yarns. What would it take to get him
back to do this?
Date: Fri, 01 Nov 1996 15:33:57 -0600
From: Robert E. Tomenchok, Jr. <retjr@ix.netcom.com>
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: Shep on WOR
After reading through some of these posts, it motivated me to add my two
cents...
I got turned on to Shep in the sixties at a pretty young age. I can
remember night after night listening to WOR on my old WW II surplus
shortwave set (it also had a medium wave band) that my dad and I got
running. We strung up a dipole out my window and I had special
permission to stay up late but HAD to turn off the radio after Shep left
the air. Wow what a trip down memory lane! I remember tunes like "The
Bear Missed The Train" sung to the tune of "Bie mir bis du schoen." You
sure have a tough time finding entertainment like that. Although I guess
that Imus in the Morning or A Prairie Home Companion are
acceptable.
I've caught Shep a few times at Richardson Hall in Princeton, but as of
late have been getting the dates fouled up. Is there a set weekend for
his appearance?
Excelsior!
Rob
Date: Fri, 08 Nov 1996 17:51:30 -0800
From: John Brock <jbrock@worldnet.att.net>
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: Jean Shepherd:
Jim:
When I was a kid, living in West Virginia in the 60's used to listed\n
and later, tape Jean's radio program from WOR. After I graduated from
college and found myself on a lovely vacation in sunny, tropical, South
Vietnam courtesy of the US Navy, those tapes were a life saver. I'd
really like to get a collection of those programs. unfortunately, Jean
does not return phone calls. Any suggestions ??
John Brock, K8WVH
Date: Sat, 09 Nov 1996 20:37:21 +0000
From: Mike Cohen <fun2@alans.com>
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: Jean Shepherd Questions
As a big Jean Shepherd fan, I have identified the following
subject for further research :
1) Radio show info :
When exactly did Jean's show run, and at what times, and
how many has he done. As far as I can tell, he started
his own show on WOR-AM in NYC in 1955, but was overnight
until 1959. Then, his nightly (Mon-Fri?) show ran from
1959 to late 1976 or early 1977, with the occaisional
addition to the lineup of a live show from the Limelight
in 1965. I believe his nightly show was 45 minutes,
from 9:15 until 10:00, including commercials. (I have
checked NY Times from the period and he was not listed
in the radio listings). How many shows did he event-
ually do (I think around 2000). Is there any reference
where one could look up a show based on topic and find
out the date it was broadcast?
2) Birthdate - I have seen both 7/26/21 and 7/26/23 listed.
3) "I, Libertine" - did Shep actually get this non-existent
book on the bestseller lists just by asking his readers
to ask for it in stores, and did he really write a book
by that name? What about the famous "milling"incident"? Any
independant confirmation?
4) Why are there no biographies of Shep, and virtually no
info about his private life after he left the army
(i.e. places of residence, marriages, etc.)? What
turned him off to radio and made him the third most
reclusive celbrity in America (after Pynchon and Salinger)?
BTW, I believe the "Declassified" LP came out in 1971.
Please respond to MC446@delphi.com
Mike Cohen
From: Czechfox@aol.com
Date: Sat, 16 Nov 1996 08:04:45 -0500
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: Flick lives
I was surfing and found your page. Shep helped me get through college in the
late 60's. I was working during the day and going to college at night. I
would be travelling home at 10pm when Shep was on the radio. I could have
taken the subway, but after a long day I needed a treat so I took the bus and
listened to Shep. (The transmission couldn't be picked up in the subway).
His endless monologues helped me unwind. His stories helped me on course
rather than give up in this cruel world. Vietman war was at its peak, and
many of my friends were either fighting in Nam, crossing the border to Canada
or going to Federal prison for their principles.
Flick lives ...
Victoria
Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 22:14:05 -0500
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
From: Alan Lewis <alewis@cybernex.net@gate.cybernex.net>
Subject: Jean Shepherd
Your web site merits a brass figligee with oak leaf palm. I did not
know that
Shepherd appeared at Princeton. I hope you will have info on his future
appearances.
Does Shepherd's Gang meet periodically? I'd like to meet others to trade
stories and tapes.
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 1996 08:56:30 -0500 (EST)
From: Orbach@aol.com
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: SHEP
THANKS FOR THE SHEP PAGE. IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE WOR AND NJPTV.
SOMEWHERE IN THE BOWELS OF MY ARCHIVES I'M HOLDING HOURS OF SHEPHERDS PIE,
AND A COUPLE OF WOR TAPES. I'VE JUST BEEN REMOTIVATED TO START A SEARCH FOR
THEM.
DO YOU KNOW OF ANYONE WHO WAS WOR TAPES WILLING TO SEND COPIES TO LONG LOST
FANS? HOPEFULLY WITH COMMERCIALS INTACT, AS THEY OFTEN SHOWCASED SHEP AT HIS
IRREVERENT BEST.
WHAT IS HIS UPCOMING PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE?
THANKS
ORBACH@AOL.COM
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 1996 22:29:18 -0500
From: Fred England &lcn1643@coastalnet.com>
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: Shep
Jim,
Do you know of any private collectors of Shep's WOR radio shows and
if so can they be had.
I have one that I recorded many years ago. "The Dago Bomb". I thought
then and still do believe that he is one of America's true humourists
and satirists.
W2SVS
Fred England
Date: Sun, 24 Nov 1996 18:57:56 +0500
From: J.W. <faxtrac@ix.netcom.com>
Reply-To: faxtrac@ix.netcom.com
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: Jean Shephard
I seldom went to sleep as a young child in Woodbridge NJ, without
putting my radio on WOR radio. Jean Shephard's stories (I didn't think
of them as stories. I thought they were true. (Werent they?) He was a
pure genious. I listened to his show until we moved out of the WOR area,
in 1967, when I was not but about 14. I still remember his show! Thanks
for this fine Home Page for a true American Legend! ( and in his own
time!)
Date: Tue, 03 Dec 1996 15:27:26 -0500
From: John B. Grosh <jbgrosh@lancnews.infi.net>
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: Shep in Philadelphia
I haven't been so happy since I wathed the last local eclipse on the TV.
Boy !!! I'm going out and getting a six pack of BLATZ beer. Some one
else thinks Jean Shepard is OK.
I was surfing for refernces to Ade and got to this page from my past.
(Then I remembered where I learned about Ade.)
A LITTLE NOSTALGIA
Shep came out of the sky with messages directed specifically at me
around 19 and 55.
He broadcast out of the ??? room of the ??? hotel in downtown
Philadelphia on, I think, KYW.
I already had a taste for Dixieland and such but when he played 20's and
30's classics and then breathlessly said, "She doesn't know what she's
saying to me!!!!", it gave me a new perspective on the important things
in life.
I dimly remember stories about his buddy with a new HI-FI set. This
buddy liked to play recordings of trains (no music). The speakers, no
make that the speaker, we only just had mono then, was the end of a
metal quonset hut and when the trains came round the bend the plates
were knocked out of cupboards in nearby cities.
He left Philly and I found him, as did most of your e-mail people, on
WOR, NY, "with broadcasting studios in beautiful Carteret, New Jersey
".
"I, LIBERTINE"
I don't remember if the "I, Libertine" project started in Philadelphia
or at WOR but it was truly the work of the Night People. Shep had been
going to various cocktail parties and other gatherings of the literatti.
He heard converations by the trend setters and the people with "real
deep literary insights" where they ALL had read ALL of the current
literature even before the books were published. They all had strong
opinions. It just happened that these original thinkers all had the same
opinion on each book. When the books finally appeared, the NY Times
reviews parroted these early opinion.
So, Shep opined, reviewers either get their advanced information for the
psychic waves at cocktail parties never read any book. The reviewers
just take good notes at cocktail parties.
Shep instructed The Night People to go to lots of cocktail parties and
talk up a book named, "I, Liberitne" by that great well known
broadcaster, raconteur and author, Frederick R. Ewing. The idea was to
see if a serious review would appear before the book was written. I
think an early review did appear, but I'm not sure. I am pretty sure
Shep and Theodore Sturgeon wrote the book one weekend. The book was
published by Ballantine Books and sold for 35 cents. You could get an
8.5 by 11 photo of the author, which I have proudly displayed under my
desk glass for years.
I'm sorry I went on so long, but consider where I learned my craft.
Excelsior! (is a story by Thurber too)
From: Eric Ward <EWard68001@aol.com>
Date: Sun, 8 Dec 1996 13:51:38 -0500
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: Jean Shepherd civil rights program.
I have been a Shep fan since the early '70's. My father told me of a
broadcast he made of the civil rights bus trip to Washington, I believe in
1968. He said Shep deserved a pulitzer for this show, but I have never heard
it. He doesn't remember if it was broadcast as a regular episode of the WOR
program. I would greatly like to obtain a tape recording of this show or any
information anyone may have.
Eric Ward
eward68001@aol.com
Date: Tue, 10 Dec 1996 20:19:37 -0500
From: John G. Lindsay <JGLINDSAY@worldnet.att.net>
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: Shep
Listening now to Christmas story. Family loves it. I used to listen to
shep when he did LIVE shows at the LIMELIGHT in Greenwich Village in NY.
The live shows were great! I have to find them on tape in my library
somewhere...
JGLindsay@worldnet.att.net
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 1996 15:09:36 +0000
From: Rob Kleidman <r.kleidman@csu-e.csuohio.edu>
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: A Shep story
Jim:
I also posted this story to Bob Kaye.
A short Shep-related story, told to me by a friend (who also grew up
listening to Shep). He and a friend were travelling through Indiana
and stopped off in Hammond. Somehow they came upon a bar names
Flick's. Of course they had to check it out. They sat down and
ordered from the bartender, and then asked him "Are you the Flick
that Jean Shepherd talks about?". In his best gruff-bartender voice
and manner, he walked off muttering "More goddamned New Yorkers!".
They never got a straight answer from him.
Rob Kleidman
-----------------------
Robert Kleidman
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology
Cleveland State University, Cleveland OH 44115
(216)687-9203; Fax: (216)687-9314
e-mail: r.kleidman@csu-e.csuohio.edu
From: Frank Dailey <FRANKD@MIAMEDIA.COM>
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: Shepherd's Pie TV Coo-Coo
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 16:00:42 -0500
Wonderful page...brought back lots of fond memories.
During the run of Shepherd's Pie, they humorously offered
certification as a "TV Coo-Coo." Little did they (Shep/NJPBS)
know they they would be deluged with requests. So they stalled
everyone and hastily drafted a handsome piece of parchment
(classy) and sent them out to everyone who wrote in. Now roughly
20 years later, I proudly include as E-mail attachment my copy.
Hope you get a kick out of it and feel free to use on your site if
you deem appropos.
73
Frank Dailey
Editor's Note:
I have placed a link to this interesting document on the main page. It is a great piece of
Shep memorabilia! Thanks Frank!
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 01:37:22 -0800
From: David Hoose <dhoose@bu.edu>
To: jsadur@keyflux.com
Subject: Jean Shepherd WOR broadcasts
Dear Jim:
As a radio listener who loved Jean Shepherd on WOR, I yearn to get a hold
of any tapes of those shows. The books are great, the TV shows less so.
It was the improvised nature of the show I loved so much.
If there are collectors who have any of these shows, is it possible to
get any of them? What, if any, are the copyright restrictions.
I was checking in on your web sight just to try to find out if Shep is
still with us and assume, based on no information to the contrary, that
he is.
Any help you can give would be very much appreciated. Give me some leads!
Thanks,
David Hoose
Do you have stories, anecdotes or trivia for this page?
Send them to:
jsadur@keyflux.com
Thanks, Jim
Return to the Jean Shepherd Page
Copyright © 1996 James E. Sadur.