While traveling in my car this afternoon, I learned from NPR that Tom Magliozzi had passed away. You may better know Tom as "Click." He and his brother Tom "Clack" Magliozzi hosted Car Talk on NPR for almost 35 years.
The "Tappet Brothers" as they were also known have been a fixture in my own life since my early teen years. I inherited a love of automobiles from my paternal grandfather and it is for this reason that I was first drawn to the show. However -- and likely true for most of their devoted listeners -- it was for their laughter and quick, wacky wit that I truly listened to the show.
Mercy but those brothers could laugh! It was infectious and if you wouldn't smile listening to them, you couldn't smile at all. And yes, I also learned a fair amount about cars and car repair from them, too.
I wish very much that I'd had the opportunity to meet Mr. Magliozzi. Perhaps one day I'll get lucky and meet his younger brother. They both are the type of public person "in your life" who, while you don't actually know them, you very much feel as if you do.
I remember being asked one of those "what if" questions in life a couple of years ago: If you could have a beer with any three people in the world, who would they be? The first that came to mind were Click & Clack. And yes, they counted in my mind as one person! That would have been a glorious night of conversation indeed.
Car Talk ended its airing of new shows about two years ago and has been "in reruns" since. I assumed that the brothers were simply taking a well-earned retirement. I wish that had been the case. Tom Magliozzi died at 77 after battling Alzheimer's disease. God, how I hate Alzheimer's!
I wept at this news.
My thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Magliozzi's family and friends, especially his wife and his brother Tom. Tom, I'd like to drive like your brother. I could do a lot, lot, worse.
And thank you to you both for so many great memories and so much laughter.
3 November 2014
4 November 2014 Addition: NPR's Fresh Air will be featuring Click & Clack on the show today. I believe that the direct link is here.
5 November 2014 Addition: Boston Globe obit here. Pieces by Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me host Peter Sagal and Silvia Killingsworth of The New Yorker at the time of Click & Clack's retirement. A 1988 article in the New York Times.
The human soul is an odd thing. Strange what ends up hitting you hard. This continues to hit me hard.
6 November 2014 Addition: Cartoon by Pat Bagley, the Salt Lake Tribune.
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