Jerry Williams (September 24, 1923 – April 29, 2003) was an American radio host, one of the originators of the

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

format. His radio career spanned more than 50 years, starting in 1946 at

WCYB WCYB-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Bristol, Virginia, United States, serving the Tri-Cities area as an affiliate of NBC and The CW. It is one of two commercial television stations in the market that are licensed in Virgini ...

Bristol, Virginia Bristol is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 17,219. It is the Twin cities (geographical proxi ...

(near the Tennessee border), followed by a stint at WIBG in Philadelphia. But it was at WMEX in Boston (1957–1965) where his popularity took off. He later went to WBBM in Chicago. In 1968, he returned to Boston on WBZ for eight years. In 1976 he was on WMCA in New York, then back to Philadelphia on

WWDB WWDB (860 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with its studios and offices in the "555 Building" on City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. It is owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group and broadcasts ...

, where he became the first FM radio talk host. He came back to Boston once again in 1981, on

WRKO WRKO (680 AM) is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, serving Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England. Owned by iHeartMedia, WRKO is a Class B AM station that provides secondary coverage to portio ...

, where he was promoted as "the man you love to hate," and where he remained until 1998. From 2002 to 2003, he hosted a program on

WROL WROL (950 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. The station is owned by Salem Media Group. Most of WROL's programming is Religious broadcasting, religious including local ministers as well as national radio ...

while fighting a series of illnesses. He also hosted television talk shows on

WBZ-TV WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent WSBK-TV (channel 38). Bo ...

(1968–1969),

WFXT WFXT (channel 25) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network and owned by Cox Media Group. Its studios are located on Fox Drive (near the Boston-Providence Turnpi ...

(1987–1990), and

WHLL WHLL (1450 AM broadcasting, AM) – branded as ' – is a commercial radio station broadcasting a Spanish-language Latin pop format licensed to Springfield, Massachusetts. Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the Springfield metropolitan ar ...

(1990). Jerry Williams was influential in the movement to remove Nixon from office of president. Williams was described as a liberal and a populist. He was a critic of the state and federal liberal political establishment and media. Williams carried out frequent radio crusades, including ones to repeal Massachusetts' mandatory

seat belt law A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e "seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The foll ...

and against a proposed prison in

New Braintree, Massachusetts New Braintree is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 996 at the 2020 census. History Before being settled by re-located residents of Braintree, Massachusetts, New Braintree was occupied by various ...

. He was a critic of Governor

Michael Dukakis Michael Stanley Dukakis ( ; born November 3, 1933) is an American politician and lawyer who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history and only the s ...

. A Christmas tradition on his radio program was a reading of

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

' ''

A Child's Christmas in Wales ''A Child's Christmas in Wales'' is a piece of prose by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas recorded by Thomas in 1952. Emerging from an earlier piece he wrote for BBC Radio, the work is an anecdotal reminiscence of a Christmas from the viewpoint of a ...

''. He traditionally signed off with "Good Night, Good Luck, Good Morning, Good Night, Tee". Tee was his wife Therese. Williams founded the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts. He was inducted into the

National Radio Hall of Fame The Radio Hall of Fame, formerly the National Radio Hall of Fame, is an American organization created by the Emerson Radio Corporation in 1988. Three years later, Bruce DuMont, founder, president, and CEO of the Museum of Broadcast Communicati ...

in 1996.

Howie Carr Howard Louis Carr Jr. (born January 17, 1952) is an American conservative radio talk-show host, political author, news reporter and award-winning writer. He hosts '' The Howie Carr Show'' originating from his studios in Wellesley, Massachuset ...

cited him as an influence. Williams died on April 29, 2003, in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. In 2008, ''Burning Up The Air'', a biography by former producers

Steve Elman Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen. Notable people A–D * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Abel (born 1970), New Zealand politician * Steve Adams (disambiguation), sev ...

and Alan Tolz, was published by Commonwealth Editions (acquired by

Applewood Books Applewood Books is a publishing company which specializes in reissuing original versions of historical books, founded by Phil Zuckerman in 1976. Its popular reprints include a hardcover edition of the Constitution of the United States; Robert L. ...

in 2010).

References

1923 births 2003 deaths American talk radio hosts American political commentators Radio personalities from Boston Radio personalities from New York City Mass media people from Brooklyn {{US-radio-bio-stub