R. Edward "Bob" Lopez (1953 – May 22, 2005) was a newsman and morning radio personality on Baltimore's 98Rock. Joining the station in 1978, Lopez participated in 13 morning radio shows during his 27 years at the station. He was known for his sense of humor and liberal political views. In the late 1980s, he co-hosted with

Bob Rivers Robert Rivers (July 7, 1956 – March 11, 2025) was an American rock and roll radio on-air personality in the Pacific Northwest, as well as a prolific producer and songwriter of parody songs, most famous for his Christmas song parodies. His al ...

. For the last part of his career, he was part of the "Kirk, Mark & Lopez" or "KML" morning show, along with Kirk McEwen and Mark Ondayko, with whom he worked for seven years. He also hosted the Sunday Lopez, a Sunday morning talk show where he discussed politics and listeners called in to express their views. The Sunday Lopez was preceded by the longer-running The Spanish Inquisition, in the same time slot with the same format. Lopez held the national record for longest tenure for a news man at a rock station. Lopez grew up in

Prince George's County, Maryland Prince George's County (often shortened to PG County or PG) is located in the U.S. state of Maryland bordering the eastern portion of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population was 967,201, making it ...

, and attended the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

, getting his first on-air experience at the campus radio station,

WMUC-FM WMUC-FM (90.5 MHz FM) is the student-run non-commercial radio station licensed to the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, broadcasting at 30 watts. It is a freeform radio station staffed entirely by volunteer UMD students ...

. He later worked at WLMD, a small AM station in

Laurel, Maryland Laurel is a city in Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River, in northern Prince George's County. Its population was 30,060 at the 2020 census. Founded as a mill town i ...

, earning $2.25 an hour, before moving to Baltimore in 1977 and joining 98Rock in 1978. Lopez was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

in February 2004, having been a smoker for several decades, starting at age 12. He continued to participate in the Kirk, Mark & Lopez radio show while undergoing

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

and

radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a therapy, treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of treatment of cancer, cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignancy, malignant cell (biology), ...

. During his treatment, Lopez and his co-hosts made his cancer a frequent source of humor on air, remarking that his hair loss made him look like

Uncle Fester Uncle Fester (Addams) is a member of the fictional Addams Family and has been played by numerous actors, beginning with Jackie Coogan in the television series ''The Addams Family'' (1964–1966). Character Uncle Fester is a completely hairl ...

. After a long and public battle with the disease, Lopez died at the age of 52. He was survived by his wife of 21 years (Jean, referred to on air as "Trixie"), and his 13-year-old daughter, Leandra.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, R. Edward Radio personalities from Baltimore University of Maryland, College Park alumni 1953 births 2005 deaths Deaths from lung cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Maryland