Jack Armstrong Dead

[JimA]

Good!  John Larsh was/is a very nice man!

http://www.legacy.com/news-record/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=106409439

Respect the family

[Big Doug Metzenbaum]

Jack was just one of the greatest guys who ever worked in radio.  Do not blame Randall Bliss.  He was merely the "button man."  The orders were issued by Brent Millar.  Millar is a classic bean-counting bottom- line P&L corpo-weasel with all the warmth and charm of Don Rumsfeld.  It is schmucks like Millar who engineer the firing of legends like Jack Armstrong and who are turning what was once a glorious medium into an industry of voice-tracking drones.  As we speak, Jack Armstrong is doing the afternoon drive shift on the coolest radio station in heaven.  Go with God, Jackson.

[JimPastrick]

I agree with the sentiments about avoiding a board-brawl and not spoiling the memories.  Being a PD was never an easy job, even in the glory days.  It's become even more difficult in the last ten years.  Even the best PD's lose a round or two when it comes to dealing with corporate.  I worked for Keymarket (as PD/OM of WGR News Radio 55), River City and Sinclair when they owned the radio group; after they sold, I got pink-slipped by Entercom, but I figured it's like The Godfather, "it's business, nothing personal."  Some days we eat the bear, some days the bear eats us.  Jack would've wanted everybody to get along here... even with the bean counters... he was the ultimate survivor.  Even now, he lives on in our memories.   

[magicmatt58]

This is an invitation to all of Jacks friends and former co-workers...I am producing an aircheck tribute to Jack that I hope to post on my site, www.bigappleairchecks.com on Friday night, and am looking for you to record a remembrance of Jack. Please make it a minute or so in length, introduce yourself, your relationship to Jack, and anything you care to talk about. You can email it to me as an attachment, matt at bigappleairchecks.com. Thanks in advance!

[YEKIMI]

As I said on another post, he probably died of a broken heart over what has happened to his beloved radio industry.  . But at least he will live on in airchecks and Youtube videos. 

[Deane Johnson]

I was PD at WKYC in the 60s and hired Jack away from WIXY.   He was a talent we just had to have at any cost.

WKYC was owned by NBC at the time and was an internal political mess of egos and silly games.  Jack never got involved in anything political or in any games.  He stayed above it, always.  He only focused on doing a great job and that he did.

I have remembered him fondly through the years as one of the great talents with only one agenda and that was doing an outstanding job.

News of his passing was, indeed, a great shock.

[spacetrucker]

Thanks for that Deane. I don't think anyone has described the Jack Armstrong I knew any better.

[MM1]

Hello Guys (and Gals) ... Even though I've been sitting this one out, I thought I'd toss in my copper Lincolns. For a while I took a beating because I was the guy who took Jack's job. It's odd because it was Jack who took the same job from me in 97. When I came back to Oldies 93 in 99 Jack was the first one to welcome me back. We had more than a few conversations (old radio guy to old radio guy) about the state of the industry and how it was moving. Jack's place in history and the hearts of many, including me, is secure. If I can add this ... putting any blame on the demise of Oldies 93 on the shoulders of Randall C Bliss only shows the lack of all the details. RCB and I spent months (no exageration) talking about the future of the franchise. The airstaff we had was the best I had ever worked with, and I've worked with more than a few. The reality is that Entercom gave up on the format. When you lose that support you are doomed. We all wrung our hands when they decided to launch the Wolf. As it turns out, it was a good move. A lot of very talented people were sent to the "beach". I worked that last morning alongside Randy on the morning show and the pain that he was feeling could be cut with a knife. He couldn't save Jack and he couldn't save Oldies 93. To suggest that he should've fallen on a sword is idiotic in these economic times. Randy offered his help to all of us and for that I'm grateful. He was my friend then and he's my friend now. OK now I'm just rambling. And as Dennis Miller is fond of saying "that's my opinion ... I may be completely wrong"

Rest In Peace Jackson ...

Max McGann

[MaxGM]

Very well said Max.

Moose

[Kyle D]

We are going to pay tribute to Jack on our show tonight.  We interviewed him a few months ago and it was great to speak with him.  Beginning at 9pm Eastern we'll be replaying parts of that interview, as well as some of Jack's airchecks from various stations. 

Our live show starts at 10pm and we'll be speaking with some of Jack's close friends, including legendary programmer John Rook and nationally syndicated talker Rollye James.

You can listen to our show at our website, www.radioracket.com.

Hope to see you all tonight for our tribute to Jackson Armstrong!