THE VOICE OF THE TIGERS DIES AT 92 Team's beloved broadcaster for 42 summers succumbs to cancer
Tom Gage and Lynn Henning / The Detroit News
May 4, 2010
Carlos Osorio / AFP/Getty Images
Harwell leaves the radio booth for the last time in Detroit, after calling the game
with the New York Yankees, Sept. 22, 2002. The Hall of Fame broadcaster called his
final game in Detroit before ending his 55th major league season in Kansas City and Toronto.
Ernie has died. After a battle against bile duct
cancer, one he knew he would lose, Ernie Harwell
died about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in his apartment at
Fox Run Village and Retirement Center in the
Detroit suburb of Novi, said his attorney and
longtime friend, S. Gary Spicer. He was 92.
With his death, Michigan loses one of its most
beloved figures, and baseball does as well. For
55 years, Harwell was a major league broadcaster,
42 with the Tigers. He broadcast his last game
Sept. 29, 2002. It was Harwell's smooth and silky
voice that taught generations of fans their first
lessons about baseball, a sport he loved and
respected. And it was that love and respect that
lives on in the hearts of the players, managers,
journalists and fans who continue to pack
Comerica Park and other parks across the country
on a daily basis. Manager Jim Leyland, hoping his
emotional words came out the right way -- which
they did -- said Tuesday, "I want to clap, I don't
want to cry because we should be celebrating a life, not mourning a death.
"The passing of Ernie is the celebration of his life. What I mean is that we knew it was coming, but he was the constant leadoff hitter for the Tigers, the constant cleanup hitter, the ever-ready defensive player.
"Most announcers aren't like that. Ernie was. This guy was the Tigers. Very few are looked up to as players. That's very rare. READ ENTIRE ARTICLE
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Ernie Harwell to lie in repose at Comerica Park on Thursday, May 6th, 7 am
Ernie Harwell's body will lie in repose at Comerica Park on Thursday
beginning at 7 a.m. and "until the last person who wishes to pay their respects"
has done so, Harwell's agent, Gary Spicer, said. "It might be an all-night vigil,"
he said. There will be no public memorial service, and the family will hold a
private funeral service at a location Spicer declined to disclose.
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EMAIL INBOX
Occasionally I receive emails I feel would be of interest
to our Detroit Memories Newsletter subscribers.
With permission from the authors, I'll publish them.
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Mr. Chuck Gleason directing the Cooley Choir in 1966.
Eileen:
The April issue was great! I especially enjoyed the information about the Vernor's Ginger Ale event coming up this summer. As a kid growing up in Detroit, I can still remember the Vernor's Ginger Ale jingle played on WXYZ and WJBK-AM radio.
It went something like this:
"Deliciously different and what do you say,
Get up, get out and try it today.
Vernor's, Vernor's,
VERNOR'S -- VA, VA VOOM!"
The "VA, VA, VOOM" was in a very low bass BOOMING voice by Mr. Chuck Gleason, a well-liked music teacher and head of the Glee Club at Cooley High School
in Detroit. I was the bass in the boy's quartet in my senior year in 1966 and
Mr. Gleason was one of my favorite teachers. He must have liked me as a student back then because he picked me for the quartet even though I couldn't read music very well. He was still teaching in the western suburbs of Detroit a few years ago.
Anyone from Cooley who reads your monthly Newsletter may remember the music department led by Miss Doris Lenz. Mr. Eric Freudigman and Mr. Gleason were the music teachers and Mrs. Roser was the accompanist.
Andy Dubill
Cooley 1966
The Cooley 1966 Boys Quartet with me seated at the piano.
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Eileen:
You may recall a letter in the April 2010 issue from Maryann Jaworski Borgon
whose father, Bruno Jaworski, a gifted big band trombonist and member of
Bud Guest's "Guest House" on WJR, was killed in the ballroom fire at Edgewater Amusement Park in 1954. She asked if anyone remembered him.
Sure enough, Newsletter subscribers and former Make Way For Youth singers,
Richard Allman, Jim Beasley, and Roland Sharette did.
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Hello Eileen:
Our friend, George Wilkins, who lives in California, had a photo of our friend
Bruno Jaworski in his files. I had an 8x10 glossy made to send to Maryann, along with another photo taken of Bruno in the back row of the Guest House Orchestra.
Rol Sharette
Boulder, Colorado
Click to hear Bruno Jaworski
I introduced Bruno Jaworski on what was his last performance on CBS. I edited out the solo and sent to Maryann. I have attached the file. He had a great tone!
Thanks to Richard Allman for this.
Jim Beasley
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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Note to Richard, Rol and Jim from Eileen: Thank you all for taking time out of your day to tackle this request. I'm certain that Maryann was very appreciative to receive these special memories of her dad.
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MAY CONTEST
This popular voice talent attended St. Isaac Jogues grade school
in St. Clair Shores and graduated in '77 from Notre DameHS
in Harper Woods where he got his start by impersonating
his principal and other staff over the PA system.
Ten years later, his big break came when he moved into
QUESTION: Didn't Friendly Bob Allison from WWJ radio host a bowling show?
Conrad Gusfa
Decatur, GA
ED'S ANSWER: He sure did. You're thinking of Bowling for Dollars. He also hosted House Detective. Forty-six years later and he's is still on the air at WNZK 690 AM, Mon-Fri, 9-11 am. with his son, Rob. You can also visit his website where he is offers household tips and terrific recipes at www.askyourneighbor.com
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QUESTION: Could you summarize the television careers of two of Detroit's urban cowboys from the 50's and 60's, Sagebrush Shorty and Happy Hollow Hank?
Dr. Charles Beer
Pine Brook, NJ
ED'S ANSWER: I've got tons of photos, documents and video on Sagebrush Shorty, which I'll be posting later this year, but I have absolutely nothing on Hank. If anyone has any info on him that they're willing to share, including his real name, please email me at detroittvguy@hotmail.com. It would be appreciated.
I'll also be publishing an article on my website about Justice Colt later this year.
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N E W !
Discover who your 'Detroiter' neighbors are.
Share your memories of Detroit.
Get together for Tigers, Lions, Pistons or Wings games...whatever!
Detroit broadcasting history is rich with character and characters.
It began atop the Penobscot Building on October 23, 1946, when WWDT shot a signal to the convention center, part of a "New Postwar Products Exposition."
WWJ-TV offered scheduled programming in June 1947, and WXYZ-TV and WJBK-TV jumped in a year later. The medium has influenced the city's personality and social agenda ever since.
Soupy Sales turned getting a pie in the face into an art form. Mort Neff celebrated the state's outdoor charms. George Pierrot showed Detroiters the world.
Other beloved personalities include: Milky the Clown, Ed McKenzie, Sonny Eliot, John Kelly, Marilyn Turner, Robin Seymour, Bill Bonds, Dick Westerkamp, Jingles, Bill Kennedy,
Lou Gordon, Captain Jolly, Johnny Ginger, Auntie Dee, and many more.
