Life 2.0

Etched In Stone

105 years ago this very morning, a light rain was falling on Chicago, in the early morning hours of July 24, 1915 as passengers lined up to board the the S.S. Eastland, known as the "Speed Queen of the Great Lakes," that was part of a fleet of five excursion boats assigned to take Western Electric employees, families and friends across Lake Michigan to Michigan City, Indiana, for a day of fun and fellowship. But the festivities were short-lived and quickly turned tragic.

 

The Eastland, docked at the Clark Street Bridge, never left the Chicago River. Tragedy struck as the ship rolled over into the river at the wharf's edge. More than 2,500 passengers and crew members were on board that day – and 844 people lost their lives, including 22 entire families.

 

The makeshift morgue for the Eastland victims was the 2nd Regiment Armory located at Washington and Carpenter Streets. 75 years after the disaster, that same building would become the home of Harpo Studios and "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Rumors of strange occurrences, sounds and even sightings of people from another era had been reported over the years, but I didn't pay much attention to that stuff while I was on staff at Oprah Radio-as the building I worked in was across the street from the main studio.

 

"Etched in Stone" is a chapter from my book "Phenomena: Sacred Moments, Messages, Memories & Other Sh*t I Can't Explain" that recounts the day in Edit 1 back in 2008, when a "voice" reached out through a speaker that wasn't even connected to anything with the demand that "Neils Petersen will not be forgotten"-not once-but twice. That "event" was heard by three people besides me....but that was just the beginning of a strange journey.

 

One of many in my life, that I share in the book. 

Never Say Never

" I'll never, ever change the name of my football team." Washington owner Dan Snyder. 

 

As the old saying goes, never say never.

 

After years of pressure from Native American groups and attempts at rescinding the patent on the logo in court, it finally came down to the almighty dollar-actually losing lots of them-from sponsors. FedEx, Nike, Pepsi and Bank of America all lined up against the name, which was given to the franchise in 1933 when the team was still based in Boston.

 

BTW, the team was called the Boston Braves back then, and after just one year as the Braves, the franchise was renamed to the Redskins in 1933, four years before the team moved from Boston to Washington. The reason for the name change was simple: Boston's new coach, Lone Star Dietz, and several of his Native American players disliked the name Braves and lobbied for the team to change its name to the Redskins, a name the players felt denoted courage and strength.

 

Joe Podlasek is the CEO of the Trickster Gallery, a Native American cultural center in Schaumburg, Illinois and for the past ten years has built a working relationship with the Chicago Blackhawks, that has become a template for other teams to follow when it comes to Native American mascots. In full disclosure, I add my 7 cents worth as well, in regards to an "empirical study" that concluded that all mascots (even the positive ones) are harmful to Native American youth. I wonder what Jim Thorpe would think of that.  

 

"Potter's Wheel" written by Bill Danoff, performed by John Denver.

 

Charlie Daniels-The Man & His Music

Country music legend Charlie Daniels passed away on July 6th at the age of 83. He was a pioneering singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for his contributions to Southern rock, country, and bluegrass music. He is also remembered for his humanitarian efforts, support of veterans and ability to touch generations of fans around the world. This is a long play-"double album" with country artists John Berry, Heidi Newfield, Kent Blazy, J.P. Pennington, Jim Horn and Michael Cleveland sharing their memories and moments about one of the most influential artists in music history. 

Tom Dreesen

I don't toss words like "icon" and "pioneer" around lightly-but both those descriptions fit Tom Dreesen like a custom- made tuxedo. From dirt-poor humble beginnings to serving in the US Navy, to finding his niche in comedy and breaking the interracial color barrier with Tim "WKRP" Reid to opening for "The Chairman of The Board" Frank Sinatra, Tom has had a life and career arc that is worth putting into a book- and he did just that. Its a candid, no-hold barred conversation about the best-selling "Still Standing: My Journey from Streets and Saloons to Stage, and Sinatra." 

Independence Day 2020

I read the full text of the Declaration of Independence once a year (required reading for me) but I've never read it "on the air" in my 20+ years of broadcasting. This simple document, created 244 years ago, was the launching pad of freedom from the yoke of tyrannical rule by the Kingdom of Great Britain and explained why the Thirteen Colonies were at war with the British, regarded themselves as thirteen independent sovereign states, no longer under British rule. With the Declaration, these new states took a collective first step toward forming the United States of America. Add in the fact, that the 56 signers of the Declaration didn't always agree, and many of them would suffer greatly just for putting their names on a piece of paper, and you have some serious lessons about what sacrifice really looks like. 

THE G-MAN

Garry Meier is a radio legend. He will tell you that it all began with a dead butterfly. One day he walked out of his house and saw a beautiful dead Monarch butterfly lying on the ground. He scooped up the lifeless harbinger of things to come and sent it to his then favorite disc jockey, Larry Lujack, the biggest jock in Chicago at the time. Larry was always talking about reincarnation and he claimed he was going to come back as a butterfly. In a note accompanying the butterfly Garry said, “I think I found your dead uncle. Sorry for your loss”. Larry read the note on the air. For Garry it was a “flash-point” moment. Fascinated with radio, he knew what he was destined to do in life when he heard his material on the air.

What followed is an amazing career beginning as part of "Steve and Garry"-one of the most successful number one radio duos in the country. That fifteen-year run garnered international publicity, as well as an Emmy for the TV show Greetings From Graceland.

I had to opportunity to broadcast back to back with The G-Man at WGN Radio in Chicago for a couple of years, and this episode is an "unplugged" conversation with one of the great voices in the business.

LIFE AFTER HATE

I've hosted thousands of radio shows in my twenty-year plus career. My conversations with Christian Picciolini are in the all time Top Ten when it comes to impact, perspective and the courage to change one's life, and in doing so, save countless others. At age 14 in 1987, Picciolini was recruited to join the Chicago Area Skinheads (CASH) by the group's founder, Clark Martell. Two years later, after Martell had gone to prison for a second time, Picciolini became the group's leader at age 16. He would go on to head the white supremacist punk band, White American Youth (W.A.Y.) and, eventually, a hate rock band called Final Solution. Final Solution was the first American white power skinhead group to perform in Europe. The concert was held in a former cathedral in Weimar, Germany attended by 4,000 people, and was made up of several other white supremacist bands. After some serious wake-up calls, he officially renounced ties to the American neo-Nazi movement in 1996 at the age of 22, and has spent the past 24 years breaking the chains of hate. 

YOU'RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER BOAT

45 years ago today, the movie JAWS was released in 400 theaters, and created a widespread fear of sharks and an increase in business for therapists trying calm the waters of fear for millions of people who vowed never to go into the water-any water-(including pools and bathtubs) ever again. It was the first "Summer Blockbuster" that brought Peter Benchley's best-selling novel to life on the big screen. It's back to the summer of 1975 with JAWS fan Jim Brinkman, award-winning screenwriter Carl Gottlieb (who also played Harry Meadows in the movie) and celebrated conductor Richard Kaufman, who played on the original soundtrack, hitting the notes on the iconic John Williams score.  

STOP! DROP! ROLL!

I am no clinical psychologist, but I am intimately connected to PTSD, a condition that I was unaware of until I was hit broadside by a drunk driver in 1986. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. 

So, I am qualified to make the following statement.

It's my observation, experience and opinion that most us in America have some level of PTSD, as our central nervous systems are overloaded, saturated, bludgeoned, beaten and hammered into submission with headlines of virus, murder caught on camera, riots, looting, protests, along with the usual mayhem and chaos humans seem to enjoy creating.

But, the new term for PTSD (for me) isn't "Post Traumatic" but rather "Present Tense Stress Disorder."

There however, an antidote to the current level of madness and mayhem that works every-time, and you already know what it is....

 

Higher Ground

George Hawthorne and I both attended Schurz High School in Chicago. I graduated 1977, George in 1985. He was a stand out football player who would go on to be named to the All-American Team in 1987-then on to the University of Iowa playing ball for Hayden Fry. He'd strap it up for the Cleveland Browns and make a career of of law enforcement, 25 years with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and held the rank of captain the last 15 years. 

After years of assistant coaching, George was named the head coach of the Arizona Skyline Coyotes high school football team in 2019. He's made quite a life from humble beginnings and also has had to deal with racism on many levels.

 

I reached out to George this past weekend, as the fires burned, the crowds gathered and the protesters marched, and asked if he would consider have a conversation around finding higher ground when it comes to race relations in America.

 

Listen and learn.