Joe Mazza, Show Will Be Missed

ust learned that another of those rare folks 'of another era' has passed away. You probably never heard of JOE MAZZA. He had what would best be described as a nostalgia radio show for 20 years but it certainly wasnt something the mainstream media would pick up. So, Mazza was relegated to small stations on a talk radio network. we were lucky to pick up one of these stations on regular radio (before internet radio really developed) .  Sometimes the signal was week  or non existent .

Mazza was one of those unique iconoclasts, much like Huell Howser was to travel talk (Howser also passed recently at about the same age as Mazza and you can read and see wonderfully, unique style,too, @ http://bayareabackroads.blogspot.com).  Mazza, much like Howswer had a unique delivery as well as an accent , which only added to the charm. while some wrote them both off as overly enthusiastic we thought it most refreshing in an era of cookie cutter, boring interviewers. Mazza and Howser were personalities in their own right, even though they weren't trying to be such.

They say the celebrities from the 50s and 60s loved coming on Mazza's little show because he was 'generous' to them -see (http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2011/05/10/joseph_f_mazza_66_radio_host_charmed_listeners_with_nostalgia/

As a sidelight , I had a good friend,  PW, who also loved the show. It was fun to talk to her about Joes latest guests but, even more, Mazza's unique and unintentional style. He had is trusty dog , Sebastian 'the wonder dog' by his side. We wondered why we hadn't heard much from Mazza of late. Now we know. Joe actually passed back in 2011 and, very sadly, PW passed not long after -and about the same time as two other of my young friends, and worse I won't boreyou with. yet people probably still wonder why I often look back. 

well, it's just one more good element missing now from today. And, because of Mazza's narrow audience and scope it's hard to find any you tubes or tapes of him, though I have some cassettes ill try  to upload, if possible. One has to sometimes wonder why folks like Mazza and Howswer 'go out ' so early. perhaps could it be , in part, to not fitting in or being questioned by today's mainstream people who write them off as 'loons' totally unjustly? Just a comment we had to make as society becomes increasingly more homogenized with fewer and fewer REAL personalities. When it comes to interviewing, there's really nobody left since they pushed Larry King off CNN in favor of a boring Young Brit. Fortunately, we do have now Internet radio, which gives us 'outsiders' some options.